Sale frees up cash for big gas project

Article Excerpt

CHEVRON CORP. $105 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $210.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) is selling a refinery in Wales and over 1,000 Texaco gas stations in the U.K. and Ireland for $730 million. That’s equal to 4% of its 2010 earnings of $19.0 billion, or $9.48 a share. The cash will help Chevron expand its 47.3%-owned Gorgon natural-gas project off the west coast of Australia. Gorgon should start operating in 2014. Chevron’s share of the project’s $37-billion cost is $17.5 billion. This project will help Chevron take advantage of rising demand for cleaner-burning fuels in Asia. Chevron is a buy. buy…