Warren Buffett's Favorite Energy Stock Posts Surprise Profit Growth Amid Debt Reduction Focus

Warren Buffett-backed Occidental Petroleum reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and announced it reached its near-term debt reduction target late Tuesday as the Permian Basin oil producer has been focused on cleaning up its balance sheet and reducing debt in recent quarters. Occidental Petroleum announced Tuesday Q4 EPS growing 8% to 80 cents with sales totaling $6.84 billion, down 4.6% vs. a year ago. Occidental Petroleum also produced 1.463 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q4.