Canadian Natural Resources reported a net income of $997.33 million (CAD 1.46 billion) for the second quarter, a decrease of 58.2 percent from $2.39 billion (CAD 3.5 billion) in the same period in the previous year.
Canadian Natural reported cash flow from operating activities of $1.84 billion (CAD 2.7 billion) for the quarter, down 53.5 percent from $4.03 billion (CAD 5.9 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, according to the company’s earnings release Thursday.
In the second quarter, Canadian Natural had an average production at 1,194,326 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), which it said is comparable to the previous year’s levels. Natural gas production averaged 2,085 million cubic feet per day (MMcfpd) in the quarter, compared to previous-year levels of 2,105 MMcfpd. Liquids production averaged 846,909 barrels per day (bpd) in the quarter, compared to previous-year levels of 860,338 bpd, the release said.
Second-quarter production was negatively impacted by wildfires and a resolved third-party pipeline outage that began in the first quarter, resulting in an average production impact of approximately 24,400 boepd (99 MMcfpd and 7,900 bpd). The wildfires in Western Canada “continue to have a minor impact on production volumes”, Canadian Natural said.
“Canadian Natural’s Q2/23 results demonstrated the advantages of our diverse and balanced asset base by delivering adjusted funds flow of approximately [CAD] 2.7 billion”, Canadian Natural President Tim McKay said. “As well, we delivered average daily production volumes of approximately 1,194 MBOE/d in the quarter, which was impacted by wildfires in Western Canada, the continued unplanned third-party pipeline outage, and planned company turnarounds during the quarter. Wildfires in Western Canada did not cause any significant property damage to our assets and we would like to acknowledge our field personnel and their families as well as the first responders and emergency response agencies for their efforts in the affected communities over the last few months.”
“As a result of strong execution on our thermal growth plan, Q3/23 average thermal production is now targeted to be approximately 280,000 [bpd], which represents growth of approximately 30,000 [bpd] from Q4/22 levels. Thermal production targets to capture strong realizations, as Western Canadian Select (WCS) pricing has improved significantly year-to-date which, as of today, is forecasted to continue for the remainder of 2023”, McKay said.
“Additionally, following the completion of planned turnarounds at our world-class Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading assets, synthetic crude oil (SCO) production was strong, with July 2023 volumes averaging approximately 513,000 [bpd], capturing SCO pricing which continues to be priced at a premium to WTI”, McKay added.
“This quarter marked the sixth anniversary of the acquisition of 70 percent of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP)”, Canadian Natural’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Stainthorpe said. “As part of the acquisition we issued approximately 97.6 million shares, resulting in shares outstanding at May 31, 2017 of approximately 1,215.0 million shares. Shareholder returns through share repurchases since the acquisition closed have been significant, resulting in a reduction of approximately 122.7 million shares over that period to approximately 1,092.3 million shares outstanding as of June 30, 2023, fewer shares outstanding than before acquiring AOSP. Additionally, since the closing, total corporate production has grown by roughly 50 percent or 442 MBOE/d from approximately 877 MBOE/d in Q1/17 to approximately 1,319 MBOE/d in Q1/23. This demonstrates our focus on safe, reliable production and our culture of continuous improvement.”
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