Anadarko Daily News

Stocks to Watch: CME Group, Pfizer and More

Some stocks to watch this morning, including CME Group and Pfizer.

CME Group Inc.’s June daily trading volume jumped 22% from a year earlier amid high market volatility driven by concerns about Greece’s credit woes and fluctuating energy prices.

Pfizer Inc.’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix was linked to a 72% increase in risk of cardiovascular problems, including stroke and congestive heart failure, according to a new analysis of medical studies.

II-VI Inc. acquired privately held Aegis Lightwave Inc. for $52 million, as the company seeks to boost its offerings of telecommunications products. Aegis provides optical channel monitors and other products.

PhotoMedex Inc. agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Radiancy Inc. in a deal that values the privately held maker of at-home dermatological products at about $696 million.

Radvision Ltd. reduced its guidance for the second quarter mostly on lower-than-expected revenue at its North American video business.

Virtusa Corp. acquired the financial-services consulting firm ALaS Consulting LLC for $27.8 million in cash, a move that adds capital markets and investment banking expertise to its services.

Western Gas Partners LP agreed to acquire a northeastern Wyoming gas-treating facility from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for about $130 million.

Whirlpool Corp. said a U.S. District Court concurred with a ruling last year that some LG Electronics Inc. refrigerators infringed Whirlpool patents, while it also expanded the scope of infringement and called for a new trial to assess damages.

Oil giant Anadarko likes Taranaki | Stuff.co.nz

New Plymouth looks set to become the New Zealand base for American oil and gas exploration giant Anadarko Petroleum – and if planned deepwater exploration off Taranaki and Canterbury proves successful, the base may require at least 100 specialist staff.

Anadarko's Asia exploration manager, Jeff Oslund, confirmed at the Enex oil and gas conference in Taranaki yesterday that it was assessing New Plymouth and Dunedin as potential base locations.

"But New Plymouth has the best services, so we're leaning towards Taranaki as the preferred location," he said.

His comments came a day after Greymouth Petroleum called for Taranaki to be officially recognised as the country's energy capital, with appropriate government departments relocated to New Plymouth.

Anadarko has already said it wants to drill deepwater wells in the Canterbury and Deepwater Taranaki basins this summer. Yesterday, however, Mr Oslund wasn't able to confirm that the drilling would actually take place.

Rig availability and cost are the big issues as the Houston-based company tries to plan a campaign. At this stage the earliest Anadarko could get a suitable rig to New Zealand waters is January, which might give the company sufficient time to drill only two wells before the rougher winter weather arrived, Mr Oslund said.

But New Zealand was a long way to tow a massively expensive semi-submersible drilling rig for just two wells, he added.

"We really need to spread the costs out over at least three wells, so there are some important decisions that need to be made."

After his presentation, Mr Oslund told the Taranaki Daily News it would cost close to $100 million just to tow a big deepwater drilling rig to New Zealand, and the cost during drilling operations would be as high as $1.2m a day.

Anadarko also used the conference to send a strong message of commitment to safe and responsible deepwater exploration in New Zealand waters.

"Regardless of where we operate, protecting the environment is our top priority and we recognise that safety must never be compromised," he told delegates.

Mr Oslund said operational safety was a "non-negotiable" culture at Anadarko and the company was proud of its safety record.

Mr Oslund compared the company's New Zealand opportunity with its projects in Mozambique and West Africa, recent additions to Anadarko's portfolio, and comparatively unexplored basins.

"Like New Zealand, Mozambique has tremendous resources and a pristine environment, and we have taken great care to identify those areas and protect them," he said.

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