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(Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum Corp posted a rise in second-quarter profit, paid down debt and resumed a buyback program as the U.S. producer benefited from higher crude prices.
The company’s net earnings attributable to common stockholders were $3.6 billion, or $3.47 per share, in the second quarter, compared with a $97 million loss, or $0.10 per share, in the same period last year.
The company reduced its gains from the first quarter, when it posted $4.7 billion in profits, or $4.65 per share.
Occidental (NYSE:OXY) has recovered from loading up on debt to buy Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) for $35.7 billion just before COVID-19 pandemic cratered oil demand. It paid down almost $5 billion in debt and achieved its internal deleveraging goal, opening the door for a $3 billion share repurchase program to begin.
Occidental repurchased $1.1 billion through Aug. 1, it said.
The U.S. producer said Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) Inc has now a 19.5% stake in Occidental, below the threshold where it could record some of the oil company’s earnings with its own..
If it reached 20% ownership, Berkshire could potentially report its proportionate share of Houston-based Occidental’s earnings through the so-called equity method of accounting, potentially adding billions of dollars to annual profit.
The company’s share price has more than doubled this year to $65.06 on Tuesday, with the company benefiting from rising oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The rally made some investment firms, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), in the past weeks downgrade the company recommendation, saying its potential for cash generation is already reflected in the price.
