Occidental Private Jet Visits Buffett’s Hometown Twice Amid Speculation Of Major Shale Deal

In a move that is raising eyebrows across the energy industry, Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s private jet made not one but two stops at a local airport in Omaha, Nebraska, in November.

The plot thickens when you consider Omaha is where Warren Buffett, Occidental’s top shareholder, resides.

These visits come as Occidental is gearing up for a new oil patch shale deal reportedly worth billions of dollars. 

Bloomberg reports Occidental’s jet took off from Houston, where the company’s headquarters is located and landed at Eppley Airfield in Omaha on Monday.

The plane was on the ground for three hours, flew to New York, and returned to Houston by midnight.

Tracking of the jet was made possible by the flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange, which monitors advanced surveillance technology embedded in planes that fly in highly regulated airspace. 

News of Occidental’s jet zigzagging around the county came days before Bloomberg reported Occidental was in talks to buy shale driller CrownRock LP for $10 billion. ADS-B Exchange data showed the jet visited Omaha two times last month. 

The latest data from Bloomberg shows Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns 25.90% of Occidental.

The recent activity of Occidental’s jet reminds us of when hedge funds were tracking the plane in 2019 when the company outbid Chevron Corp. to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for $55 billion.