Warren Buffett piles another $1 billion into Occidental Petroleum boosting his bet on the energy stock to $7 billion in 11 days

• Warren Buffett spent another $1 billion on Occidental Petroleum stock in three days this week.
• Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has now invested $7 billion in the energy company in 11 trading days.

Warren Buffett's $4 plowed $1 billion into $4 over three days this week, meaning it's now bet a total of $7 billion on the energy stock in just 11 trading days.

The famed investor's conglomerate scooped up 18.1 million shares between March 14 and March 16, $4 show. Berkshire has now amassed 136 million shares since February 28, giving it a roughly 15% stake in the oil-and-gas company. Its position was worth $7.2 billion as of Wednesday's close.

Buffett $4 after reading a transcript of Occidental's fourth-quarter earnings call, held on February 25.

"I read every word and said, 'This is exactly what I would be doing,'" the Berkshire CEO $4. "We started buying on Monday, and we bought all we could."

Occidental stock has surged 71% this year, fueled by a $4 in energy prices. The cost of oil and natural gas has soared thanks to a post-pandemic rebound in demand, and fears of supply disruptions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Buffett and his team have dealt with Occidental before. They provided $10 billion of financing to help the company acquire Anadarko Petroleum in 2019. In exchange, Berkshire received $10 billion worth of preferred shares in Occidental, along with warrants to buy 83.9 million common shares at an exercise price of $59.62.

If Occidental stock climbs above that level, Berkshire can exercise its warrants and sell the resulting shares at a profit. However, if it decides to keep those shares and retains its current holding, it would command a total of 220 million shares — a 22% stake worth over $13 billion at the exercise price.

Buffett is $4 of Berkshire's almost $150 billion cash pile. However, he's been starved of attractive opportunities with stocks near record highs, and special-purpose acquisition vehicles (SPACs) and private-equity firms driving up the price of acquisitions. The investor may have finally found his long-awaited bargain in the form of Occidental stock.