Carlos Slim, Latin America’s richest man, boosted his stakes in American energy companies in the current year as the world’s leading tycoons continue betting on fossil fuels. Slim invested $602 million in Parsippany, New Jersey-based refiner PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF), boosting his stake to 25%, and also bought $326 million worth of shares in Houston-based oil producer Talos Energy Inc. (NYSE:TALO).
Last year, the Mexican billionaire’s Grupo Carso SAB agreed to acquire PetroBal SAPI’s stake in two oil fields in Campeche in southern Mexico for $530 million, expanding its bet on energy production. Under the deal, Grupo Carso will take a 50% stake in the Ichalkil and Pokoch oil field.
According to the company, the fields produce about 16,350 barrels of crude oil equivalent per day. Carso shares jumped to record highs after the deal was announced. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed the deal despite earlier being critical of energy reforms that opened exploration to private investment, “Why do I celebrate this? Because it stays in the hands of Mexicans and I’m sure that they’re going to invest to extract crude. I consider that to be good news,” the president said at his daily news conference.
Obradors’ nationalist policies have seen the Mexican government become increasingly hostile to foreign companies. Last year, giant oil and commodities trading firm, Trafigura, was forced to scale back its oil trading business in Mexico thanks to shrinking margins. Trafigura has recorded margin compression due to fuel subsidies by the Mexican government.
Meanwhile, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) has continued growing its oil and gas stakes. Two weeks ago, Berkshire Hathaway bought another 8.9 million shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) with the company now owning 260 million shares of OXY. Berkshire Hathaway's OXY stake is currently worth $12 billion, making it the company’s sixth largest holding.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
