This Buffett Oil Stock Is Quietly Outperforming Chevron Under Greg Abel. Is It Worth Buying Now?
The article says Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO Greg Abel, who started in January, coincided with Occidental Petroleum (OXY) shares rising about 36% since then, outperforming the S&P 500 and Chevron (CVX). It cites OXY’s quarter ended June 30, 2026 revenue up 57% and earnings up 20-fold, plus debt reduction after selling OxyChem for $9.7B.
How this was made
The 30-second read
Why it matters
OXY is positioned as a crude-price pure play after selling OxyChem to Berkshire for $9.7B, reducing debt by another $6.5B, and showing sharp YoY growth in revenue and earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Market read
Traders get a narrative link between OXY’s earnings leverage and potential future crude spikes, but the article does not introduce new OXY-specific disclosures beyond already-reported Q2 results and performance framing.
What to watch
The article does not quantify OXY’s hedging, production guidance, or cash-flow sensitivity, which could materially change how crude moves translate into earnings.
Background
The piece ties Occidental’s CEO transition at Berkshire (Greg Abel) to an overlooked driver: OXY’s strong share performance since January and its Q2 results.
Ticker impact
Occidental shares are described as up nearly 36% since January, with Q2 revenue up 57% YoY and earnings rising 20-fold.
Near-term upside bias if crude volatility persists, but the piece also flags a binary risk tied to future oil-price moves.
The only concrete company-specific datapoints are the post-January outperformance and the reported Q2 growth metrics, plus a narrative link to crude-price sensitivity after debt reduction and becoming a fossil-fuel pure play.
Chevron is mentioned as a Berkshire holding and as having risen about 22.5% since January, lagging Occidental’s ~36% surge.
Limited incremental trading signal for CVX from this article alone; any impact is mainly relative to OXY’s crude leverage narrative.
The text provides no new CVX-specific event, guidance, or results, only comparative returns and the general contrast in operating leverage.
Market effects
Reinforces the market’s tendency to reward E&P operating leverage during crude-price stress, while integrated majors may lag in downturns.
Highlights U.S.-Iran and Strait of Hormuz risk as a driver of crude volatility that can feed into U.S. E&P equity performance.
Points to China’s crude stockpiling as a dampener on oil spikes, implying future replenishment could re-accelerate crude and benefit levered producers.
Counterpoint
OXY’s rally may already price in geopolitical oil volatility; if crude fails to re-accelerate, the operating leverage that helped could reverse quickly.
Key entities
- companyOccidental Petroleum
Subject of the article, with reported Q2 revenue growth of 57% YoY and earnings rising 20-fold, plus strong share performance since January.
- companyChevron
Used as a relative benchmark, described as up about 22.5% since January versus OXY’s ~36%.
- companyBerkshire Hathaway
Background context for the Greg Abel CEO transition and the OxyChem sale to Berkshire.
- macro factorChina crude stockpiling
Cited as a reason oil has not hit triple digits yet, with replenishment risk flagged as a future catalyst.
- geopolitical factorU.S.-Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz
Cited as the trigger for the earlier crude spike that coincided with OXY’s surge.
