A few years ago, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) outmaneuvered Chevron by winning the $55 billion bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum. It did so with the help of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B), which made a $10 billion preferred stock investment in Occidental. That investment gave the oil company the cash to close the megadeal.

Occidental Petroleum has paid a high price for that preferred stock investment. However, that burden is getting a little lighter as the oil company makes progress in redeeming the investment.

Occidental Petroleum bid aggressively to snatch Anadarko Petroleum from the grasp of the much larger Chevron in 2019 to bolster its position in the oil-rich Permian Basin. Occidental offered a higher price ($76 per share compared to a $65-a-share proposal from Chevron) and a larger cash component (50% of the equity value versus 25% from Chevron) to win over Anadarko's investors.

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Source Fool.com