((Translation automated by Reuters, please consult the non-responsibility clause https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))))
*
Canadian heavy crude is negotiated at an extremely low price compared to WTI
*
Canadian producers see advantages in the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline
*
The Pathways group hopes to resume negotiations with the government
(Update after the conference call; addition of quotes in paragraph 4) by Amanda Stephenson and Vallari Srivastava
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO, the largest oil producer in the country, announced a profit superior to forecasts for the first quarter and record production Thursday, helped by a narrow discount on the heavy crude Canadian who, according to the company, should persist.
Canadian producers have benefited this spring from a historically tight discount on the price of heavy oil compared to the American reference crude, which made it possible to amortize the shock of a significant fall in oil prices worldwide.
President of Canadian Natural, Scott Stauth, told analysts at a conference call that he expected to make the current Western Canada Select does not change significantly in the coming quarters.
-“We expect the differences to be maintained in the current range, outside and in the future,” he said.
Wednesday, the WCS price for delivery in June in Hardisty, Alberta, established 8.75 dollars per barrel under the price of the American gross West Texas Intermediate, which represents its lowest discount since 2020.
Canadian Natural said a profit of $ 2.4 billion Canadian dollars in the first quarter earlier, exceeding analysts’ estimates.
The company’s shares were up 3.6 % on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Canada’s oil producers have benefited from the start of the expansion project for the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which almost tripled the oil flow to the country’s Pacific Coast from the landlocked Alberta, increased Canadian Dubrut prices and opened access to the Asia and the West Coast of the United States.
Canadian Lepétrole has also benefited from American sanctions against Venezuela and other countries, which stimulate the demand of heavy gross producers who are not sanctioned.
The quarterly Canadian Natural production reached the record level of 1.58 million barrels equivalent to oil per day during the first quarter, against 1.33 million barrels equivalent to oil per day during the same period of the previous year.
The company plans to reduce its annual investment budget by $ 100 million Canadian to bring it to $ 6.05 billion Canadian, and said that this would have no impact on expected operating activities or on production levels for 2025.
Stauth said that the reduction in the investment budget was not linked to the drop in WTI prices, but rather to current efficiency and optimization projects on various sites that have helped the company reduce its costs.
He also said that he hoped that negotiations between the federal government and the Pathways Alliance, a group of bituminous sand producers who have proposed a carbon capture and storage project of $ 16 billion Canadian, could continue in the near future, now that the Canadian elections are finished and that the new Prime Minister Mark Carney is in place.
($ 1 = 1.3878 Canadian dollars)
