• Occidental and Berkshire Hathaway Joint Venture: Occidental Petroleum and Berkshire Hathaway have formed a joint venture to market and sell lithium for EV batteries, highlighting Occidental’s expansion in renewable energy.
• Competition in the Lithium Market: Occidental competes with Exxon Mobil, which aims to dominate the lithium market for EV batteries after acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources.

• Devon Energy’s Missed M&A Opportunities: Devon Energy missed out on significant acquisition deals with Enerplus, Marathon Oil, and CrownRock, attributed to weaknesses in its stock, but still has potential targets like Permian Resources and Matador Resources.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), the large American petrochemical manufacturer, announced a joint venture with Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK:A, BRK:B) to market and sell lithium, the key resource in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Occidental has a strong record of investment in renewable energy through its subsidiary, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, however the new joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway shows a strong opportunity for growth in the space.

Occidental continues to compete with Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XON) in the lithium space, who announced in November of 2023 their plan to become the predominant provider of lithium for EV batteries after their acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, a leading lithium producer.

India’s renewable energy job market saw a significant increase in FY24 according to Teamlease Services, a leading recruitment and human resources company in India. According to their report on Wednesday June 5, the job demand in the renewable energy space increased by 23.7%, a sharp increase from FY23’s growth of 8.5%.

According to the World Resources Institute, India is the world’s 3rd largest carbon emitter. Renewable energy job market growth in India signals strong potential for renewables in India.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) is said to have missed a large deal-making wave in the large natural gas and oil space. Losing 3 large merger/acquisition deals in the past year, Devon may have missed the boat on M&A. Devon;

• Lost bid to acquire Enerplus to Chord Energy, who paid $3.8b.
• Lost to ConocoPhillips’ $22b bid to acquire Marathon Oil.
• Lost bid to acquire CrownRock to Occidental Petroleum’s $12b bid.

According to Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enverus Intelligence, weakness in Devon’s stock put the company at a disadvantage to rival bidders for companies.

Remaining acquisition targets for Devon include Permian Resources (NYSE:PR), Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR), and privately held Mewbourne Oil.