In a conference call with analysts, chief executive
Last week, the benchmark West Texas Intermediate price soared above
But Pourbaix said the sky-high prices won't prompt a significant spending spree by Cenovus.
"I'm kind of old enough and bear enough scars that I guess when it comes to pricing, I'm always very cautious," Pourbaix said.
"We anchor all of this company's development plans at the bottom of the cycle for oil and gas. We won't invest in a project that doesn't deliver an acceptable return at the bottom of the cycle . . . which we would describe as kind of
Cenovus, like other major Canadian oil producers, spent several years cutting spending during a period of depressed commodity prices. Since oil prices rebounded last year, the company has been focused on increasing dividends to shareholders, share buybacks, and debt reduction.
According to the
But while major new capital projects may not be in the cards, sustained current commodity prices will mean significantly more day-to-day activity for Cenovus in 2022.
Already in the fourth quarter of 2021, the company's upstream production rose to 825,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with 467,200 boepd in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Total downstream throughput for the quarter was 469,900 barrels per day, up from 169,000 a year earlier.
"We're going to be employing a lot of service — a lot of drilling and service rigs, a lot of contractors, just with our basic sustaining capital program," Pourbaix said on the call.
High oil prices also mean Cenovus has been rapidly paying off debt, and is quickly approaching its
"I assure you we will continue the capital discipline you've come to expect from us," he said.
Cenovus' stock price sank Tuesday as the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of
Cenovus shares closed at
"Overall, we view the event as neutral," O'Rourke said of Cenovus' fourth quarter earnings report.
Revenue for the quarter totalled
Adjusted funds flow amounted to
Cenovus also reached agreements during the quarter for asset sales with total proceeds of about
The company also announced the sale of its Tucker thermal oilsands project in northeast
Cenovus said Tuesday it does not anticipate further significant divestitures in the near future.
This report by
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