Imperial Oil, a leading Canadian petroleum company, has announced a decline in its second-quarter profit and revenue. The company’s net income dropped to 675 million Canadian dollars ($510.5 million), or C$1.15 a share, compared to C$2.41 billion, or C$3.63 a share, from the previous year.
This decline in profit was primarily driven by lower commodity prices and planned turnaround activity, resulting in tighter refining margins. The company’s cash flows were also affected, generating C$885 million from operating activities in the quarter, compared to C$2.68 billion in the same period last year.
Total revenues for the quarter decreased to C$11.82 billion from C$17.31 billion. However, analysts had expected a slightly lower figure of C$11.38 billion.
Furthermore, Imperial Oil experienced a decrease in production, with 363,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day compared to 413,000 barrels in the previous year. This reduction was mainly due to the timing of planned turnaround activity at Syncrude. Analysts had predicted a production decrease to 378,100 barrels per day.
In addition to the aforementioned factors, the decline in production and steam cycle timing at Cold Lake’s thermal in-situ operations also contributed to the overall decline. Moreover, the absence of unconventional volumes resulting from the sale of XTO Energy Canada in the third quarter of the previous year had an impact.
Overall, Imperial Oil’s second-quarter results reflect the challenges faced by the company due to lower commodity prices and planned turnaround activities, which affected both profit and production.
