Oilsands production returning

COMPANIES RESTORING PRODUCTION AS DEMAND GROWTH SPURS HIGHER PRICES

Oilsands companies are restoring thousands of barrels of daily production to take advantage of higher oil prices as relaxed pandemic measures allow North American consumers to get back on the road.

Executives speaking at a TD Securities energy conference on Tuesday said they are confident the oil price crisis is subsiding — while expressing dismay at recent setbacks for oil pipelines in the United States.

“I believe we’ve made it by far through the worst of the situation and, as we see commodity prices grow, we’re seeing a strong price signal to bring production back,” said Alex Pourbaix,

CEO of Cenovus Energy Inc.

The Calgary-based company stopped about 60,000 barrels per day of crude production and halted crude-by-rail shipments as prices fell in March and April, but has since restored about half that, Pourbaix reported.

Cenovus is also making deals with other producers to add to the amount it is permitted to bring to market under Alberta’s oil curtailment measures, he added, thus allowing even more output to be restored.

In a separate session, Suncor Energy Inc. CEO Mark Little said he expects a “downstream-led recovery” as consumer demand sparks increased throughput from its Canadian refineries. That consumer-led demand will then translate into more production from its oilsands and other “upstream” assets.

He didn’t say when he expects to reverse Suncor’s oil production cuts, which included going to one production train from two at its 194,000-barrel-per-day capacity Fort Hills oilsands mine.

Husky Energy Inc. has restored about 40,000 bpd of the 80,000 bpd in oil production it took offline as demand for products produced at its U.S. refineries rises, said chief financial officer Jeff Hart at the conference.