Subject: Re: Tom Russo on BRK's OXY Bet
Makes little sense.

Utilities are generally permitted to pass through energy costs to rate payers. All they care about is having supply at peak periods. Its that way just about everywhere. That comment looks to me to be naive.

Rails like airlines and others MAY do their own hedging. He has owned BNI for what 20 years and never saw the need to hedge in his equity portfolio when oil prices have been much higher and much lower. Makes no sense. If the rail wants to hedge, they can do it all by themselves. My guess is they don't because no one ever gets it right more than 50% of the time. NO ONE.

There are better ways to hedge if that was his thesis. He could buy all of HESS and have 30% of the world's largest oil find in the past 20 years and in the next decade will be one of the largest in the world when fully developed.

Maybe he sees what others may see. The world is not replacing production. The world is increasingly dependent on oil and gas from the Permian, Marcellus and Canada. Renewables are stupid and require big spending on gas backup while he and others are shutting down coal production and nuclear in the US is running downhill.