Chevron Wins Exploration Rights Off Myanmar - Analyst Blog

Myanmar subsidiary of the U.S. energy behemoth Chevron Corporation CVX has been awarded exploration rights in Block A5 in the Rakhine basin, off the coast of Myanmar.

The affiliate, Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co. Ltd, will have a 99% stake in the block and act as the operator. The remaining interest will be held by a Myanmar-based firm, Royal Marine Engineering. The block is situated about 125 miles northwest of Yangon and spread across 2.6 million acres.

Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Company has a long working history in Myanmar and expects that winning this bid would give it additional opportunity to help with the nation's energy sector development.

Other holdings of Chevron's subsidiaries in the region include a 28.3% stake in a production sharing agreement. The agreement involves the generation of natural gas from the Yadana and Sein fields, in Blocks M5 and M6, in the Andaman Sea. Additionally, Chevron has a 28.3% interest in a pipeline company that transports natural gas to support power plants in Thailand.

San Ramon, California-based Chevron is one of the largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world, based on proved reserves. It is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, refining and marketing of petroleum products, manufacturing of chemicals, and other energy-related businesses.

Chevron has an impressive business model. Its current oil and gas development project pipeline is among the best in the industry, boasting large, multi-year projects. However, due to its integrated nature, Chevron is particularly susceptible to downside risk from any weakness in the global economy.

Chevron currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it is expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Meanwhile, one can consider better-ranked energy sector stocks of Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. CWEI, Range Resources Corporation RRC and Valero Energy Corporation VLO. All these stocks currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).