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The Cenovus Christina Lake oilsands facility southeast of Fort McMurray, Alta., in 2024. The company’s purchase of MEG last year added to its assets in the area.AMBER BRACKEN/The Canadian Press
Oil and gas producer Cenovus Energy CVE-T posted a rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher benchmark crude oil prices and as the acquisition of MEG Energy boosted its upstream production to record levels.
Cenovus’ acquisition of MEG last year added the Christina Lake oil sands assets to its portfolio, boosting production and strengthening its position as one of Canada’s largest heavy oil producers.
The Calgary-based company said total upstream production rose to a record 972,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter, from 818,900 boepd a year earlier.
Total downstream crude throughput was 458,500 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 665,400 bpd a year ago, though Cenovus achieved an overall crude unit utilization rate of 97 per cent.
Cenovus’ board also approved a 10-per-cent increase in its quarterly base dividend to 22 cents per share, beginning in the second quarter.
The company’s net earnings rose to $1.57-billion, or 83 cents per diluted share, in the three months ended March 31, from $859-million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.
