Suncor Tops Profit Estimate as Oil Sands Production Soars to Record High
Canada’s Suncor Energy beat Q4 quarterly earnings estimates as its oil sands production jumped to an all-time high and total upstream production was the second highest in company history.
Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) reported late on Wednesday adjusted operating earnings of US$1.21 billion (C$1.635 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2023, down year-on-year due to lower crude and products realizations. But the adjusted operating earnings of US$0.94 (C$1.26) per common share were above the US$0.78 (C$1.05) expected in the average analyst estimate, per LSEG data cited by Reuters.
The higher upstream production and strong downstream operations in the fourth quarter helped Suncor beat analyst estimates, despite the lower profits that all oil companies have reported this earnings season, due to weaker oil and natural gas prices.
Suncor booked for Q4 its “best-ever” Oil Sands production of 757,400 barrels per day (bpd), with upgrader utilization over 100% outside the maintenance period. Total upstream production hit 808,100 barrels of oil equivalent (boe/d) - the second-highest quarter in company history.
For full-year 2023, total upstream production of 745,700 boe/d was also the second highest in the company's history, while oil sands output was at a record high of 689,600 bpd, including best-ever production at Syncrude and Firebag, Suncor said.
“Upstream reliability across our operations was at or near record highs, achieving the second highest quarterly total production in the company's history and the highest quarterly Oil Sands production,” Suncor’s president and CEO Rich Kruger said.
“Downstream performance was equally strong with refining utilization in the quarter at 98%,” Kruger added.
Canadian oil producers in Alberta plan higher output for this year and expect to earn more from their heavy crude once the long-delayed expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline enters into service. Despite the uncertainty around the start date of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX), some of the biggest Canadian producers plan to boost production in Alberta’s oil sands in the short to medium term.
INCREASED TAXES
Lower Oil Prices Are Set to Hurt Alberta’s Budget
The Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith has warned that lower oil prices will have an impact on the province’s new budget, forcing some spending cuts.
During a televised address on Wednesday night, Smith said "Lower resource revenues will certainly require us to show more restraint than previously predicted.”
"We will ensure this is done thoughtfully and with priority given to the programs and services Albertans most rely on such as health, education and social supports," the Premier added, as cited by the Canadian Press.
Alberta’s budget is tied to its oil revenues, which are calculated on the basis of the West Texas Intermediate benchmark. Even minor changes in the benchmark’s value can have an impact of hundreds of millions of dollars on the Canadian oil province’s finances.
Alberta’s FY 2023/24 budget was tied to an average WTI price of $79 per barrel but for much of the year that ends this March, the U.S. benchmark has traded lower than this, meaning the budget calculations of the Alberta government had to be adjusted.
Recently, oil prices have been on the mend amid continued tensions in the Middle East but there is no guarantee the rally will either strengthen or continue seeing as there are bearish factors at play as well. Chief among these are doubts about the strength of Chinese oil demand.
Premier Smith has acknowledged that basing the province’s budget on oil revenues is not the wisest option, saying in her speech this week it was time for Alberta to get off the “budget rollercoaster” of oil revenues. She added, however, that the provincial government will not raise taxes to balance the new budget.
For the next financial year, the Alberta budget stipulates an average WTI price of $76 per barrel on average, declining to $73.50 per barrel in the following fiscal year.
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