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Imperial Oil announces first-quarter financial and operating results
| Calgary, AB, May 1, 2007
| Imperial Oil today announced net income for the first quarter of 2007 of $774 million or $0.81 a share, compared with $591 million or $0.59 a share for the same period last year.
The main contributing factors for increased earnings were higher realizations for Cold Lake heavy oil and higher Syncrude volumes. The increased earnings were also due to lower operating costs and share-based compensation expenses and higher gains from asset divestments. Partially offsetting these factors were lower conventional resources volumes, lower natural gas realizations and higher royalties on Cold Lake heavy oil production. Stronger industry refining and marketing margins were essentially offset by the impact of shutdowns of refinery operating units.
Operating revenues were $5,767 million in the first quarter, compared to $5,786 million in the corresponding period last year. Capital and exploration expenditures were $216 million in the first quarter, down from $322 million during the same quarter of 2006, primarily reflecting the completion of the ultra-low sulphur diesel project. In the first three months, the company repurchased about 13.6 million shares
for $569 million. At March 31, 2007, the company's balance of cash and marketable securities was $1,770 million, compared to
$2,158 million at the end of 2006.
“Continued focus on controllable elements of the business, coupled with favourable market conditions, resulted in solid earnings during the quarter. The period also saw conditional regulatory approval of the proposed Kearl oil sands project, marking an important milestone in the development of this long-life, high-quality opportunity,” said Tim Hearn, Imperial's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Click here to read our interim report that includes the news release, highlights and items of interest, management's discussion and analysis, and financial statements.
Imperial Oil is one of Canada's largest corporations and a leading member of the country's petroleum industry. It is one of Canada's largest producers of crude oil and natural gas, is the country's largest petroleum refiner, and has a leading market share in petroleum products, sold primarily under the Esso and Mobil brand names through a coast-to-coast supply network that includes close to 2,000 service stations.
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