Imperial Oil's Strathcona refinery near Edmonton. The company announced a major restructuring last month that will reduce its workforce by 20 per cent by the end of 2027.Todd Korol/Reuters
Canadian oil producer Imperial Oil IMO-T reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Friday, as record production and refinery throughput offset lower crude prices.
The strong results come after Imperial’s September announcement that it would cut its work force by about 20 per cent by the end of 2027, part of a major restructuring that will eventually shutter most of its presence in Calgary.
Imperial, majority-owned by Exxon Mobil XOM-N, plans to relocate most of its remaining Canadian jobs by 2028 to its Strathcona Refinery near Edmonton and also outsource some work to Exxon’s “global capability centers” in India.
Adjusted profit reached $2.17 a share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.92 a share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Imperial CEO John Whelan addressed the layoffs on a Friday conference call, saying the company must adapt to a rapidly advancing technology environment by taking advantage of its relationship with Exxon and the growth in the latter’s global operations.
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“We will remain a proud Canadian company,” Mr. Whelan said. “An industry-leading, technology-focused energy company contributing significantly to the country and our shareholders.”
Canadian oil sands producers such as Imperial Oil have remained resilient amid a global oil industry downturn, supported by years of investment that have made it among North America’s lowest-cost producers. Imperial said Friday its upstream production for July-September rose 3.4 per cent to 462,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), the highest quarterly output in more than three decades.
This was driven by record production at its Kearl operations and steady output from Cold Lake and Syncrude.
Imperial’s downstream segment ran at 98-per-cent utilization, up from 90 per cent last year. Total throughput volumes also rose 9.3 per cent to 425,000 b/d during the quarter.
The quarter included a $306-million after-tax non-cash impairment due to the sale of its Calgary campus and a $249-million after-tax restructuring charge related to employee severance packages.