Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company has cuts its controversial stake in PetroChina to just under 8%.

A filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange reveals that Berkshire now owns 1,687,730,000 shares in the Chinese-government controlled oil company.  That's down almost 200 million shares from Berkshire's previous filing earlier this month.  (Under Hong Kong Stock Exchange rules, Berkshire is only required to disclose a sale if it brings the company's stake across a whole number percentage level.  In this case, a sale of 45 million shares took the stake across the 8% level, triggering the filing.  Sales of the other 155 million shares disposed of since the previous filing did not have to be disclosed.)

Since mid-July, Berkshire has reduced its PetroChina holdings by 642 million shares, bringing its stake down from 11% to just under 8%.  It remains the company's second-biggest shareholder, following PetroChina's state-owned parent company, China National Petroleum.

Buffett's true motives for selling remain a matter for speculation.  The Associated Press quotes China Construction Bank International Securities analyst Duncan Chan as saying, "I expect Buffett will continue to sell down its stake in PetroChina to take profits, given crude oil price is this high."  PetroChina shares have exploded higher in the years since Buffett first started building his stake.

But, as we reported about a week ago in the WBW post Buffett's Been Selling More PetroChina Than You Might Have Thought, a group called Investors Against Genocide has been calling the "steady series of sales" an "increasingly clear demonstration of divestment by Berkshire Hathaway."  That group, and other human-rights activists, have been calling on big investors to sell their PetroChina shares as a protest against China's business ties with Sudan, which they say helps fund the genocide in Darfur.

If you would like to join the speculation, drop me an email.  I'll post excerpts.

Questions?  Comments?  Email me at

POPULAR WARREN BUFFETT WATCH POSTS

• 

• 'Buffett Rule' Introduced in Senate But Passage Unlikely 

• 

• Buffett Offers Millions in Deficit Donations, If ... 

• 

• McConnell Spokesman: Ask Democrats for Deficit Donations  

COMMENTS

More Comments

 

« First | « Previous

Next » | Last »

Thank you for joining our discussion. Your comment has been posted.

ADD COMMENTS

Please Sign In or Register to participate.

In order to add a comment you must click here and accept our terms and conditions.

Edit Screen Name

Please sign-in/optin or register to be able to submit comments.

Remaining characters

CNBC welcomes your contribution. Please respect our community and the integrity of its participants. CNBC reserves the right to moderate and approve your comment.

Sorry, we are no longer accepting comments.

PREVIEW COMMENT

Your comments have not been posted yet.
Please review your submission to make sure you are comfortable with your entry.

Your Comments: