The country's largest oil and gas producer by market capitalization churned out 1.42 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter, up nearly 10 per cent year-over-year to break its all-time quarterly production record.
The
The increase came as demand for oil in
New export terminals along the
The higher volumes saw Canadian Natural boost its net earnings by nearly three-quarters to
The company also announced it will raise its quarterly dividend to
Canadian Natural notched a net debt level of
Like other Canadian oil producers, the firm is awaiting the startup of the
The contents could be a mixture of heavy and light crude, said
The project is about 98 per cent complete and expected to start service in the second quarter, Canadian Natural said.
The additional export capacity is also poised to shore up the Western Canada Select differential — the price discount Canadian heavy oil producers typically have to absorb on their product in part due to lack of pipeline egress.
Earlier this year, a cold snap in the Prairies hampered production slightly at Canadian Natural, but Stauth said the company bounced back quickly.
"In those extreme cold weather stretches like what we saw in January, there's always short-term challenges in our conventional and oil sands mining assets. But generally — and in this case — they're short lived," Stauth said.
"So no material impact."
Canadian Natural reported revenue for the quarter ended
On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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