What happened Shares of integrated oil company Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) were up 2.3% today as of 4 p.m. ET. Oil and energy companies in general were on the rise today as fossil fuel prices stayed strong, while stocks overall struggled for direction. The S&P 500 index was down 0.3% as of market close. So what There was no news today to cause Occidental's jump higher, but shares are rallying after pulling back from multiyear highs reached in early June. Occidental has doubled in price so far this year. Much of the excitement surrounding the company has to do with none other than Warren Buffett. Occidental secured funding from Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) for the acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum back in 2019, a deal that yielded Buffett and company favorable terms to purchase OXY stock. Since then, Berkshire has been adding to its position. In a filing last week, the investment conglomerate reported it now owns over 16% of Occidental. This has led to some postulating that perhaps Occidental might be Buffett's next "elephant," all-out takeovers of companies that are added to Berkshire Hathaway's wholly owned subsidiaries. Given the sprawling assets of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (which includes utilities, natural gas, wind, and solar assets), an acquisition of Occidental could make sense -- although Buffett does have a long history of taking big stakes in stocks without ever making an offer for a full-blown takeover. Now what If you're a long-term investor (you plan to hold for at least a few years, but the more the better), don't buy Occidental simply because of speculation it could be an acquisition target. Focus instead on the cash-generating potential of this energy major. As oil prices have risen, the company's free cash flow has been surging -- giving it the ability to pay off its ample burden of debt (net long-term indebtedness of $25.9 billion as of end of March 2022). As of this writing, Occidental Petroleum stock trades for just under six times trailing-12-month free cash flow. If energy prices hold strong and the company can continue to pay down its debt, it could be a fantastic long-term bargain -- with or without Berkshire making a splashy purchase. 10 stocks we like better than Occidental PetroleumWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Occidental Petroleum wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2022 Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients have positions in Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2023 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2023 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and short January 2023 $265 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source