The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, April 16, 2010

Article Excerpt

CENOVUS ENERGY INC., $29.16, Toronto symbol CVE, took its present form on December 1, 2009. That’s when EnCana Corp. split itself into two separate companies. One kept the EnCana name and “ECA” trading symbol, and focuses on unconventional natural gas. The other, Cenovus, specializes in oil-sands projects, oil refineries and conventional natural gas. Cenovus rose 2% this week. The gain was mainly in response to a big purchase in the Alberta oil patch: Chinese state-owned oil company Sinopec bought a 9.03% stake in the massive Syncrude oil-sands project for $4.65 billion U.S. The purchase price was roughly 20% higher than the consensus estimate. That helped draw investor attention to all oil-sands stocks, including Cenovus. Rather than pursue acquisitions, Cenovus plans to focus on developing its own oil-sands properties in northern Alberta. To help pay for these projects, the company aims to raise $500 million (Canadian) this year by selling some of its conventional oil and natural-gas properties. To put this figure in…