Imperial Oil’s second quarter profit dropped by 90 per cent from last year. The company said it took a $320 million dollar hit from Alberta’s corporate tax increase. Profits fell from $1.2 billion in 2014 to just $120 million this year.
“Imperial’s second quarter results reflect continued strong operating performances across all business lines in a challenging business environment,” said the company in a press release posted on its website. “Highlights for the quarter include the early start-up of the Kearl expansion project, continued ramp-up of Cold Lake Nabiye production […],successful execution of major turnarounds at Syncrude.”
Gross production was 344,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day, up 57,000 barrels from last year thanks to increased production at both Kearl and Cold Lake. It was the highest quarterly production level in nearly eight years. Kearl averaged 130,000 bbl/d in the quarter thanks to project start-up five months ahead of schedule.
