TransCanada’s JV With Phoenix, Chevron’s Indonesian Project: Energy Biz Update

TransCanada Corporation (NYSE:TRP) and Phoenix Energy Holdings are creating a joint venture through which to develop the Grand Rapids Pipeline system in Alberta, with each owning one half of the proposed $3 billion project, that will possess the capacity to move as much as 900,000 barrels of crude oil per day, along with 330,000 of diluent. This new system should to be operational by early 2017.

Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) buys 611,449 more shares of Asia Offshore Drilling, which takes the firm to a 65.76 percent ownership in the latter. The move reinforces Seadrill’s position in the Asian jack-up market, while the aging global fleet of such businesses drives demand and dayrates for the newbuilds.

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Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) keeps its 2012 crude oil output target of 2.02 million barrels per day, subsequent to production starting to rise in October. In September, output had reached its lowest level in more than four years, to 1.843 million barrels a day due to maintenance shutdowns. Late Friday, Petrobras reported that its third quarter net profit dropped 12 percent year-over-year, which was short of expectations, while higher domestic fuel prices could not outweigh higher costs and heavy fuel imports.

Chevron Corporation’s (NYSE:CVX) Indonesian division, which represents the country’s biggest producer of crude, has initiated a $500 million expansion of the project at Duri field on the island of Sumatra. When at maximum output, the site should contribute some 17,000 barrels per day to production.

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