Berkshire vs. Occidental: Who Actually Won the $10 Billion Chemicals Deal?

In late 2025, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) announced that it was selling its chemicals business to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) for $9.7 billion. Both companies gave the customary hat tip to each other, praising the deal. But is there a clear winner here? The answer is no, but that's not a bad thing. Here's why.

Oxy and Berkshire know each other well

The chemicals business was actually the second big transaction between Berkshire Hathaway and Occidental Petroleum. The first came in 2019, when Berkshire Hathaway helped finance Oxy's acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum. Oxy outbid Chevron (NYSE: CVX), one of the world's largest energy companies, for that deal.

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The acquisition was made with an eye toward growth, but shortly after the transaction closed, the pandemic hit and oil prices cratered. The leverage Oxy took on to buy Anadarko basically forced the company to cut its dividend. Which is why the chemical business sale to Berkshire Hathaway is so interesting. Oxy used $6.5 billion of the proceeds to pay down debt, giving it the financial strength to invest more aggressively in its upstream operations.

With oil prices on the rise in 2026, that's a clear win for Oxy. But it doesn't mean this is a loss for Berkshire Hathaway. It just means that Oxy's focus on growing its business appears to have paid off amid high energy prices. Berkshire Hathaway only "loses" if its goal doesn't pan out as expected.

That's where things get interesting, because Berkshire Hathaway's goal was to acquire energy assets to add to its already large midstream energy business. The conglomerate isn't really focused on the near term; it's looking to the long term as it builds a diversified portfolio of reliable businesses. Oxy's chemicals business is added to Berkshire Hathaway's energy operations, but the conglomerate also operates across the insurance, utilities, rail, manufacturing, services, and retail segments. In that mix, Oxy's chemicals business is just one small piece of a much larger whole built to provide reliable cash flows and long-term growth through economic cycles. Berkshire Hathaway isn't a "loser" here, at least partly because its investment horizon is so long.

Everyone is likely to win this one in time

You can easily argue that Oxy's chemicals sale allowed it to focus on oil and gas production just as energy prices started to rise, and that makes it the winner in this deal. But oil prices rise and fall over time, so that's not really the way to spin this transaction. Oxy wins because focusing on its production assets is the goal it was looking to achieve. Rising energy prices were just a lucky coincidence. And, for similar reasons, Berkshire Hathaway wins, too, because it got a reliable chemicals business to add to its massive portfolio of operating businesses. That was the goal, even if Oxy looks like it is benefiting more right now. In the end, both Oxy and Berkshire got what they wanted out of this deal.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Chevron. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.