Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CBI) has been awarded a project valued in excess of US$1.4 billion by Refinería de Cartagena S.A. (REFICAR) for the engineering, procurement services and construction of a new refinery, with processing capacity of 165,000 barrels per day, adjacent to REFICAR's refinery in Cartagena, Colombia. CB&I's scope also includes revamping the existing 80,000 barrel per day refinery. The overall project will relieve regional refining constraints and will enable REFICAR to produce clean, ultra-low sulfur gasoline and diesel from heavy crude.

REFICAR has chosen CB&I to be the single contractor to engineer, procure, and construct this important project, which is key to enhancing Ecopetrol's position as a leading producer for the entire region. Refinería de Cartagena S.A. is owned by Ecopetrol, Colombia's national oil company.

CB&I will provide project management and the engineering, procurement services, fabrication and construction for the new refinery, including the following major components: Crude

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It’s official: You can reduce your investment risk simply by chucking darts at a list of stocks, then buying them.

That’s if you believe a Nobel economist, of course. His crude “experiment” was the start of “modern portfolio theory” decades ago. The downside, however, was that with a reduction of risk came a dampening of profits. So scratch that idea.

How about this? A startling study in the late 1970s showed that owning a portfolio of large U.S. companies with international divisions drops your risk 10% below a domestic stock portfolio. Much better. But that wasn’t the eye-popper…

The study also found that owning stocks in international companies cuts your risk in half…

Take that, “efficiency” theorists! Yet the stuffy professors still tried to refute these results. It was a losing battle, though, as more studies emerged, laden with more evidence that international stocks reduce risk.

But the

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Axial Vector Energy (AXVC.PK) was pleased to announce recently that its wholly-owned subsidiary, AVEC Acquisitions Corporation, and Petrosonics LLC have entered into a joint venture agreement. Petro-AVEC, the official name of the new joint venture, will bring key members from both companies together in an effort to develop, finance, and market Petrosonics’ sulfur removal technology worldwide.

Petrosonics has developed a technology that increases the amount of refined product extracted from a barrel of oil. With a moderate temperature and atmospheric pressurized environment, a high-powered ultrasound is used to reduce the amount of sulfur, nitrogen, and trace metals typically found in petroleum. The process increases API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity and volume while reducing oil density and hydrogen loss. The process renders more usable refined end-product than traditional methods and even turns “sour oil” into a less sour product.

Dr. Mark Cullen, founder of

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Enbridge Inc. (ENB) has agreed to sell its 24.7% stake in the OCENSA pipeline to Ecopetrol, the Colombian national oil company, for more than US$400 million.

Shares of the company are up more than 3% today, though volumes are lower than usual.

The Canadian energy distributor expects to receive after-tax proceeds of 535.0 million Canadian dollars ($420.8 million) from the sale. The money will be used to fund operations as well as reduce debt.

CEO Patrick D. Daniel said that the funds will have a neutral impact on 2009 earnings. However, he further added that it will be accretive in subsequent years and enable the company achieve 10% plus growth through 2012.

The OCENSA pipeline has a capacity to transport 525,000 barrels per day of crude oil and connects Columbia to the Caribbean coast.

Enbridge is a Zacks #2 Rank ("Buy") stock.

"ENB" Free Stock Analysis: ...