Imperial Oil Ltd. is reporting third-quarter net income fell 43 per cent to $424 million or 56 cents per share, compared with $749 million or 94 cents per share in the same period of 2018.
The Calgary-based producer and refiner says cash generated from operating activities added up to $1.38 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $1.21 billion in the third quarter of 2018.
Imperial missed analyst expectations for net income of $488 million or 70 cents per share but beat a cash flow forecast of $1.01 billion, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
The biggest drag on earnings came from Imperial’s downstream operations, where net income slipped to $221 million from $502 million due to lower refinery profit margins and planned maintenance outages.
On the upstream side, Imperial reported slightly lower income due to higher operating expenses and royalties _ it noted lower volumes at its Kearl oilsands mine and Cold Lake bitumen works but higher volumes from the Syncrude mining facility, in which it holds a 25 per cent stake.
Total production rose to 407,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 393,000 boe/d in the same period of 2018.
Crude-by-rail shipments averaged 52,000 barrels per day in the third quarter, compared to 64,000 bpd in the second quarter of 2019.
“Imperial achieved its highest third-quarter production in 30 years,” said CEO Rich Kruger in a statement.
He is retiring at the end of the year and his role is to be assumed by Brad Corson.