Was Buffett Right About Energy In 2020?

Every time Berkshire Hathaway founder and CEO Warren Buffett buys or sells a stock, the investing world tends to sit up and take notice. That’s mainly because the Oracle of Omaha has a better investing track record than your average hedge fund, managing to outperform the S&P 500 in 37 of the past 55 years, or about two-thirds of the time.

Buffett made his foray into the energy sector 18 years ago when Berkshire bought a $500 million stake in PetroChina Co. (NYSE:PTR) before selling it five years later for a $3.5B profit.

His energy track record after PetroChina has, however, been a mixed bag. His next big purchase, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in 2008, ended up losing Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) several billions of dollars.

His biggest hit so far has been his 2009 investment in Burlington Northern Railroad for $44 billion. BNSF is a railroad behemoth that used to transport crude from the Bakken to refiners and still transports enough coal to generate 10% of the electricity consumed in the United States since the purchase. Berkshire has collected nearly $20 billion dollars in dividends from Burlington Northern Railroad, annual revenues have increased by 80%, and earnings have more than doubled.

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Source; Oil Price /

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