EnCana Corporation (ECA) – a major Canadian oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company – reported weak third quarter results, hit by lower prices and volumes. Operating earnings per share, excluding hedging and foreign exchange effects, came in at $1.03. This fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.11 and way behind the year-ago profit of $1.92.  Revenues were down 64.2% year over year to $3.9 billion. During the quarter, total production was down 7.0% to 4,387 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d), of which 81% was natural gas. Natural gas production decreased roughly 9.3% year-over-year to 3,551 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), while oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was up 3.7% to 139 thousand barrels per day (MBbls/d).  Key Resource Plays  Production of natural gas from key resource plays was down approximately 6.5% year-over-year to 3,410 MMcfe/d, primarily ...

This post is a guest contribution by Dr Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management.

During 2008, Russia was among the weakest stock market performers in the emerging market universe, losing more than 70% in US$ terms. But this year, the market has staged an impressive rally surging nearly 100% in the year-to-October period. The Russian market is among the cheapest in the emerging market universe and is trading at a discount of around 50% to its counterparts.

Today, Russia and many other emerging markets are now being driven by an excess in money supply in the international markets which means that these markets are experiencing an inflow of money for investments. Consequently, as Russia was more depressed than other markets, the upside is greater. At Templeton, we continue to find attractive opportunities in most sectors despite the recent rally as valuations remain undervalued. The Templeton Emerging

...

Chinese energy giant PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR) announced third quarter earnings of RMB 30.8 billion or RMB 0.17 per diluted share, compared to RMB 40.1 billion or RMB 0.22 per diluted share in the year-earlier quarter. The year-over-year negative comparison was primarily attributable to lower oil prices and weaker energy demand. PetroChina’s total revenue in the quarter reached RMB 267.7 billion, a decrease of 12.1% from the year-earlier period.  Upstream  The company’s upstream segment achieved steady growth in natural gas output during the nine months ended Sep 30, 2009, while oil volumes fell slightly. Crude oil output was 631.2 million barrels, down 3.7% from the same period in 2008. However, marketable natural gas output increased 11.4% year-over-year to 1,524.8 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The average realized crude oil price during the first nine months of 2009 was US$49.06 per barrel, representing a decline of 49.6% from ...

In a bid to expand its storage capacity, PetroChina (PTR) has started building an oil storage project in Kunming, the capital city of southwestern Yunnan province. The project is expected to handle 1 million tons of freight annually. It will have a storage capacity of 85,000 cubic meters in the first phase and 150,000 cubic meters after the second phase.  Apart from the storage expansion project, PetroChina has also been actively investing in the refining space. In the last month, the company started operations at the $4 billion Dushanzi refining and chemical complex in the Xinjiang province. The complex consists of a refinery and an ethylene plant with capacities of 10 million tons and 1 million tons a year, respectively. The company estimates that the project may generate approximately $8.8 billion in annual revenue.  Despite the tentative global outlook, China’s fuel demand is expected to remain ...

PetroChina (PTR) is right on track to meet its annual production target from Changqing field in northwestern China. During the first nine months, total production from this field increased 22% to 22.6 million metric tons of oil equivalent. This includes 11.4 million tons of crude and 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas. In Dec. 2008, the company had set the target of 20% to 30% production increase from this field. However, PetroChina’s production from the country’s largest and oldest oilfield has been declining. To maintain its production at 40 million tons over the next ten years, the company is presently using new drilling techniques. On the other hand, PetroChina’s non-petrol business is gaining momentum. During the first nine calendar months of 2009, revenue from this business increased approximately 70% year over year. With greater emphasis on natural gas business, the company remodeled about 2,000 ...

China’s largest integrated oil company, PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), has started operations at the $4 billion Dushanzi refining and chemical complex in the Xinjiang province. The complex consists of a refinery and an ethylene plant, with a capacity of 10 million ton and 1 million ton a year, respectively. The refinery, which processes high-sulfur crude oil, will increase the company’s total refining capacity of 2.58 million barrels per day (as of 2008). The company estimates that the project may generate approximately $8.8 billion in annual revenue. Most of PetroChina’s crude oil and natural gas reserves and production-related assets are located in northeastern, northern, southwestern and northwestern China. With the start of this refinery complex, the company is able to import and refine crude oil in the west part of the country. As per the Chinese government’s data, the country’s fuel demand may rise 4% in 2009. ...

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

...

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).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

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.

...

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 ...

Recently, oil major ConocoPhillips (COP) and Australia’s Origin Energy Ltd., joint developers of a multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, chose a 230-hectare site for the venture’s processing plants. The 50-50 partnership, Australia Pacific LNG, zeroed in on Laird Point on Curtis Island near Gladstone in Queensland as the location of its proposed LNG plant.   The announcement of the site selection is being considered as a significant milestone in the development of the project, as the partners move towards the final investment decision (proposed for the end of 2010), followed by the first shipment to international markets (expected by the end of 2014).   In September last year, ConocoPhillips declared its plan to create a long-term Australasian natural gas business focused on coalbed methane production and LNG processing and sales in partnership with Origin Energy (Australia’s second-biggest electricity and gas retailer).   We believe that the ...