Suncor Energy beats first quarter profit estimates on refined products demand
FILE PHOTO: General view of the Suncor Energy refinery, located near Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered shut down in May 2021, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada March 20, 2021. Picture taken March 20, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo
(Reuters) – Canada’s Suncor Energy beat first-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday as the integrated oil and gas firm benefited from demand for refined products and higher oil production.
Demand for refined products remained high in the quarter as outages at Russian refineries following Ukrainian attacks and heavy refinery turnaround tightened fuel supplies to global markets.
The company said it achieved the highest-ever first-quarter refining throughput at 455,300 barrels per day (bpd), up 23.8% from a year ago.
Refinery utilization was at 98% in same period, compared with 79% from a year earlier.
Earnings were also helped by growing demand for oil in the U.S., the biggest importer of Canadian oil, which rose more than the forecast in February according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, helping oil producers like Suncor Energy.
Canada’s second-biggest oil producer said total upstream production was up at 835,300 bpd in the quarter, up 12.6% from a year earlier.
The company reported adjusted operating earnings of C$1.41 per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of C$1.29, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)