The
The profit missed the market's expectations, as the average analyst estimate had been for a profit of
CNRL's production in the quarter averaged 1,294,679 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 1,313,900 in the same quarter a year earlier.
On a conference call with analysts, company president
"We had to complete multiple mining equipment repairs, resulting in the reduced rate at Horizon for both
The company's full-year 2023 thermal and oilsands mining and production guidance range remains unchanged, McKay said. CNRL is currently completing a "reliability enhancement" project at Horizon, which the company says will extend the major maintenance schedule at the oilsands mine to once every second year from the current once per year.
CNRL continues to expect total production of between 1,330,000 and 1,374,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023, an increase from 2022's full-year production of 1,281,434 boe/d.
The company announced an increase to its quarterly dividend Thursday, from
McKay also used Thursday's analyst call as an opportunity to highlight the progress the company has made on old oil well abandonment and reclamation.
The topic has been in the headlines lately after
A report from Scotiabank last month named CNRL as a company that would be poised to benefit from such a program.
McKay said on Thursday's call with analysts that the company believes it is an industry leader on abandonment and reclamation, adding it has successfully sealed and taken out of service more than 3,000 wells per year in each of the last two years.
"At this pace, we would be able to achieve 100 per cent abandonment of our current inventory of inactive wells in approximately 10 years," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first
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