For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 2, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), Sinopec (SNP), Total SA (TOT), CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and Vodafone (VOD).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

PetroChina Sings ‘O Canada’

Yesterday, PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), the largest integrated oil company in China, agreed to pay C$1.9 billion ($1.7 billion) to acquire a majority stake in two oil sands projects in western Canada.

As per the terms of the agreement with Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (a privately held Calgary-based group), the Chinese energy giant will purchase a 60% working interest in the Canadian company’s proposed MacKay River and the Dover ventures in northern Alberta. The deal, which awaits certain regulatory approvals, is currently the largest venture by China in Canadian oil sands.

According to an independent third party evaluation, the oil sands that PetroChina plans to exploit are estimated to contain as many as five billion barrels of reserves, about half of Athabasca’s total recoverable resources. Peak production from the two sites is projected to reach 300,000 – 500,000 barrels per day, with first volumes expected in 2014.

The agreement calls for the Chinese behemoth to provide certain financing arrangements for Athabasca, ensuring timely development of the MacKay River and Dover projects. In general, oil sands projects are characterized by long-term capital-intensive investments that require huge up-front expenditures. The total capital cost to develop the MacKay River and the Dover properties are estimated to be in the range of C$15 – C$20 billion.

Oil sands, also known as tar sands, are naturally occurring mixtures of bitumen (a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum), water and sand that are found in large deposits in Athabasca, Peace River, and Cold Lake in Canada ’s Alberta province. The oil sands in northern Alberta hold the largest crude reserves outside the Middle East.

We see this transaction as part of PetroChina’s long-term strategic plan to explore one of the world’s largest untapped oil regions and supplement its conventional reserves.

In recent times, oil sands have drawn growing interest from Chinese energy groups. Sinopec (SNP) owns a 10% stake in a planned Total SA (TOT) project, while CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) bought a 17% interest in a small privately held oil sands project.

Vodafone Accelerates 3G

Vodafone (VOD) reportedly upgraded its 3G mobile broadband network to offer maximum theoretical download speed of 14.4 megabits per second (Mbps). However, users will get a practical download speed of up to 10.8 Mbps. The upgraded service will be initially available to the customers across London, Birmingham and Liverpool and extended to the rest of UK in due course

The world’s largest revenue-generating wireless carrier launched its 3G services in 13 countries in fiscal 2008. Vodafone’s 3G wireless broadband technology is based on High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and provides peak data rates of up to 7.2 Mbps. It spent over £14 billion ($28 billion) to obtain 3G wireless licenses in various countries, devoting nearly 40% of capital expenditure to expand its 3G network.

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