Canadian producer Imperial Oil posted a higher net income for the first quarter compared to last year, boosted by improved refining margins.
The company, mostly owned by U.S. giant ExxonMobil, reported a net income of US$933 million (C$1.29 billion) for Q1 2025. This is up from US$860 million (C$1.19 billion) in the same period of 2024. Profit also rose compared to the previous quarter, supported by better downstream margin capture.
Refining margins in North America improved since the lows in late 2024. This was driven by strong product demand and temporary shutdowns at some refineries.
Imperial Oil’s upstream production averaged 418,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q1, lower than a year ago. This decline was caused by extreme cold weather and unexpected downtime at the Kearl project.
However, the company saw higher price realizations compared to Q1 2024. This was helped by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which started operating in the second quarter of 2024.
The pipeline expansion tripled capacity to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000 barrels. It carries crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia.
For Imperial Oil, this meant better bitumen prices, mainly due to the narrowing gap between U.S. WTI crude and Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude prices.
Synthetic crude oil prices also improved, driven by a better spread between Synthetic crude and WTI.
“Imperial delivered strong financial results in the first quarter, highlighting the resilience of our integrated business model,” said Brad Corson, chairman and CEO.
He added that the upstream business benefited from improved transportation and narrower heavy oil price differentials, while downstream profits reflected Canada’s market advantages.
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