Berkshire Hathaway bought almost 6 million shares of Occidental Petroleum in recent days, bringing its stake in the big energy company to 200.2 million shares worth $12.2 billion, according to a filing late Tuesday

The purchases, which occurred on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday, were made at prices ranging from about $59 to $62 a share and are Berkshire's first purchases since the end of the third quarter. The value of the purchases totals about $360 million.

"Overall, we expect OXY to have a slightly positive reaction vs. peers tomorrow," writes Roth MKM analyst Leo Mariani.

More than slightly. Occidental Petroleum stock has gained 0.5% Wednesday, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) has fallen 1.8%. The S&P 500 has dipped 0.1%.

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, likes energy companies. Berkshire also owns around $27 billion in Chevron stock (ticker: CVX).

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) now holds a roughly 22.1% stake in Occidental Petroleum (OXY), whose shares were down 1.4% Tuesday to $60.85. As a holder of more than 10% of Occidental, Berkshire must disclose any purchases or sales within two business days to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a form 4 filing. The new purchases also raise questions about Berkshire's intentions: Will it aim to buy Occidental outright at some point in the future?

In addition to the Occidental equity holding, Berkshire owns nearly 84 million warrants to buy Occidental stock that can be exercised at just under $60 a share and $10 billion of Occidental preferred stock paying an 8% dividend rate.

The Berkshire purchases indicate the drop in Occidental's stock price along with energy prices in recent weeks has enticed Buffett.

Berkshire began buying Occidental stock in 2022 and Barron's estimates that Berkshire paid an average price in the low $50s.