Conoco (NYSE:COP) Appealing Highway 12 Ruling in Utah

The odd decision of an Idaho judge to not allow Conoco (NYSE:COP) to move several large loads along Highway 12 from Lewiston to Montana, has led to the company appealing the ruling to the Idaho Supreme Court.

2nd District Judge John Bradbury rescinded the permits to move the four loads, leaving the oil giant in a difficult circumstance.

Conoco is challenging the decision by the judge that the Idaho Transportation Department "acted in an an arbitrary and capricious manner in its application of state regulations."

This judge also said the Department needed a “reasonable determination of necessity” before of approving of large loads.

If these large loads didn't fit that criteria, then what would?

The permits which were rescinded were for traveling at night and required the trucks to pull over every 15 minutes to allow traffic to pass. When you consider how little traffic that would be, it seems even odder that this judge made this decision. Sounds activist to me.

Allegedly the moving of the loads could possibly delay access to hospitals in case of emergencies, and the traffic interruptions violated the rules of the state.

Both of these possibilities at night are rare, and largely immaterial, and were obviously made by people who simply don't want the loads to be carried on the roads for any reason.

Conoco said in its notice of appeal, that those suing over the shipments have no standing, as “their alleged injuries are speculative, hypothetical, abstract, and are not causally related to the four shipments that are at issue.”

This was probably a salvo against other companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), which wants to move about 200 other large loads around the same route.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgrades Conoco (NYSE:COP)

ConocoPhilllips (NYSE:COP) received an upgrade from Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), as the oil giant more than doubled earnings in the second quarter.

Bank of America upgraded them from "Sell" to "Neutral" on their strong earnings, which came to $4.16 billion, or $2.77 a share. Last year in the same quarter they generated earnings of $859 million, or 57 cents a share.

The financial institution also like the fact Conoco is going to sell the entire stake it has in Lukoil, the largest non-government oil company in Russia.

Bank of America set a price target on Conoco of $61 a share. Conoco closed yesterday at $54.56, gaining $0.67, or 1.24 percent.

Conoco (NYSE:COP) Surges on Increased Margins, Oil Prices

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) enjoyed over double the earnings in their latest quarter, as refinery margins and oil prices led them during the reporting period.

Profits came to $4.16 billion, or $2.77 a share in the second quarter, contrasting with the $859 million, or 57 cents a share in the same quarter last year. Revenue also exploded from $35.45 billion to $45.69 billion during that time.

Price per barrel of oil rose to $71.09, a 37 percent gain, while natural gas prices increased to $4.50 per million cubic feet, a gain of 22 percent.

Conoco's profit margins from refineries were much stronger, where the American refineries generated income of $782 million. That was unfortunately offset by a $1.1 billion impairment charge in connection to its Germany-based Wilhelmshaven refinery.

The goal of selling about $10 billion in assets remains on the front of Conoco's strategy, and CEO Jim Mulva announced the next assets to be sold will be its entire stake in Lukoil, the largest private oil company in Russia.

In June Conoco sold its stake in the Canada oil sands to Sinopec for $4.65 billion.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Should Beat Estimates

In their upcoming quarterly report, analysts are looking for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to exceed expectations, with earning per share expected to come in at $1.37, on revenue of $33.3 billion.

Last year in the same quarter earnings per share were $0.58 on revenue of $27.7 billion.

On an annual basis, the Conoco should enjoy earnings per share of $6.00.

ConocoPhilips' earning report is scheduled for April 29, 2010.

Conoco (NYSE:COP) Sells Stake in Syncrude

Conoco Sells Stake in Syncrude to Sinopec

Conoco (NYSE:COP) has sold its 9 percent stake in Syncrude to Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production (NYSE:SHI) for $4.65 billion, the company said on Monday. Syncrude is an oil sands project in Canada.

The move by Conoco was part of their strategy to pay down their huge debt load, with a goal of divesting of $10 billion in assets over the next two years for that purpose.

With this acquisition, China's investment in the oil sands projects in general stands at about $10 billion.

Recently Conoco announced it was selling its stake in Lukoil, the Russian oil producing giant, which would raise $4.9 billion at existing prices.

Already these two major deals are close to the stated goal of Conoco, so we'll see if they continue on with big deals, or now look to smaller deals to reach their goal.