Long Lake boosts Nexen numbers
Canadian producer Nexen saw its first-quarter profit rise by 37% on the back of improving output from its Long Lake oil sands project and higher oil prices.
News wires 27 April 2010 12:29 GMT
The company's net income rose to C$185 million (US$185.01 million), or 35 Canadian cents per share, from C$135 million, or 26 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.
The per-share result lagged the average analyst estimate of 39 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters.
Nexen, which operates in Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, Yemen, and the North Sea, benefited from an 86% year-on-year increase in oil prices.
Revenue rose 43% to C$1.50 billion.
Nexen, which has struggled to boost output from its Long Lake project located south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, said bitumen production volumes at the site have been consistently improving, as it ramps up output of the steam needed to liquefy the tarry-bitumen trapped in the sands.
"Long Lake is performing well since the turnaround last September. Steam and bitumen production volumes have steadily grown each month and this upward trend continues," chief executive Marvin Romanow said in a statement.
Long Lake's gross bitumen production has grown from 14,000 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2009, to 19,000 bpd in the first quarter of this year. But that was still well below the C$6.1 billion project's planned 70,000 bpd capacity.
Nexen's cash flow fell 3.4% to C$538 million, or C$1.03 per share.
Earlier this year, Nexen said it expects to raise more than C$1 billion over the next two years from the sale of certain non-core assets.
The company said it remains confident that the disposition of these non-core assets will generate over C$1 billion in the next 12 to 18 months with timing dependent on market conditions.
Published: 27 April 2010 12:29 GMT | Last updated: 27 April 2010 12:29 GMT |
