Cenovus Energy released its 2014, 4th quarter results today.
The company lost $472 million in the fourth quarter, a 714 per cent increase in losses compared to the same quarter in 2013.
Although the company made $744 million throughout 2014, a 12 percent increase from 2013.
It also announced that it is cutting about 15 per cent of its staff, mostly contractors, which equals roughly 800 lost jobs.
Oilsands production saw a 25 percent jump to 142,213 barrels per day (bbl/d) from year to year, with a 2014 year average of 128,195 bbl/d.
Cenovus’ capital investment was down six percent to $3.1 billion.
Cash flow saw a 4.5 per cent decrease to $3.5 billion as lower margins in refining cut into potential extra revenue from higher oilsands production.
“We had strong operating performance in our oil sands and conventional businesses in 2014, with significant growth in oil sands production and additions to our portfolio of regulatory-approved projects,” stated Brian Ferguson, Cenovus President & Chief Exceutive Offiver in the company press release.
In 2014, the company received approval for its Grand Rapids and Telephone Lake oil sands projects and its Foster Creek phase J expansion.
Christina Lake and Foster Creek averaged more than 128,000 bbl/d, an increase of about 4,000 bbl/d from the company’s full-year guidance.
“We’re pleased with the strong performance of our oil sands projects. Both Christina Lake and Foster Creek delivered reliable production with lower non-fuel operating costs per barrel and improved safety performance compared with 2013,” said Ferguson.
Cenovus had free cash flow of $428 million in 2014, 23 per cent higher than in 2013, after capital investment of approximately $3.1 billion.
“We ended 2014 in a solid financial position with approximately $900 million in cash and cash equivalents on our balance sheet and debt ratios well within our target ranges,” added Ferguson.
In addition to staff cuts, Cenovus is freezing salary increases for 2015, reducing discretionary spending, including spending on travel, conferences, offsite meetings and IT upgrades all in an effort to reduce its costs.
