Canada’s Cenovus Energy posts higher fourth-quarter profit on higher production

Workers at the Cenovus Christina Lake oilsands facility steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) pad southeast of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken

Canadian oil and gas producer Cenovus Energy posted a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by higher upstream production.

Canadian oil sands producers, including Cenovus, have remained resilient amid a global oil industry downturn, supported by years of investment that have made them among North America’s lowest-cost producers.

The country’s oil producers are also gaining from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, which opens access to global markets and lessens their dependence on the U.S. pipeline system.

The company said its total upstream production was 917,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter, up from 816,000 boepd a year earlier.

Total downstream throughput for the quarter was 465,500 barrels per day, compared with 666,700 bbl per day a year ago.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company’s net income rose to $934 million, or 50 cents per share, in the three months ended December 31, from $146 million (US$106.69 million), or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo, Reuters