Canadian Natural defers oilsands mine expansion, citing regulatory uncertainty

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., at the company's annual meeting in Calgary, Thursday, May 3, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. is deferring an oilsands mine expansion as it waits for Ottawa to finalize environmental policies.

The Calgary-based oil and gas giant says some spending had been included in its 2026 budget for its $8.25-billion Jackpine mine expansion north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

But it’s reducing its forecast operating and capital expenditures by about $310 million, which includes the removal of early engineering and design work at Jackpine from spending plans for this year.

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Canadian Natural says the lack of certainty around carbon pricing and methane emissions rules is creating an economic burden for long-term growth investments.

It says it will reassess the viability of the project once it’s more assured of regulatory policies, project approval timelines and the ability to move crude to market via pipeline.

The Alberta and federal governments signed a memorandum of understanding late last year covering a host of energy matters that aims for agreement around industrial carbon pricing and methane by April 1.

Earlier this year, Canadian Natural acquired natural gas assets in the Peace River area of northwestern Alberta from Tourmaline Oil Corp. for $765 million.

Also Thursday, Canadian Natural raised its quarterly dividend to 62.5 cents per share, from 58.75 cents per share.

Its fourth-quarter profit came in at $5.3 billion, or $2.54 a share, a jump from $1.14 billion a year, or 54 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2024.

On an adjusted basis, Canadian Natural says it earned 82 cents per diluted share from operations in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 93 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Product sales for the quarter totalled $10.71 billion, down from $11.06 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Production in the quarter, before royalties, amounted to 1,658,681 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 1,470,428 a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2026.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CNQ)

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press