IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $40

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $40 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $33.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) plans to expand its oil sands operations in the Cold Lake area of northern Alberta. In 2015, Cold Lake supplied 158,000 barrels a day, or 43% of Imperial’s average daily production of 366,000 barrels a day. This expansion will cost $2 billion. It should produce an additional 50,000 barrels a day by 2022. Imperial’s expertise with solvent assisted, steam-assisted gravity drainage technology should help cut its operating costs. That process also creates fewer greenhouse gasses than conventional extraction methods. Imperial Oil is a buy.

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