Canadian oil and gas producer Cenovus Energy posted a rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher benchmark crude oil pricesand 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 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%.
Cenovus’ board also approved a 10% increase in its quarterly base dividend to 22 Canadian cents per share, beginning in the second quarter.
The Calgary, Alberta-based company’s net earnings rose to C$1.57 billion ($1.14 billion), or 83 Canadian cents per diluted share, in the three months ended March 31, from C$859 million, or 47 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Khusbu Jena in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)