Imperial Oil sees big jump in Q3 profits

Strong refining margins key to beating analysts’ expectations

CALGARY – Imperial Oil Ltd. says higher margins at its refineries were the main reason for a 21-per-cent jump in its thirdquarter profit, handily beating analysts’ expectations.

The Calgary-based integrated energy company says its net income during the threemonth period rose to $1.04-billion or $1.22 per diluted share, compared to $859-million or $1.01 a share for the same period last year.

Imperial says the increase was primarily due to higher margins at its refineries.

Total revenues came in at $8.3 billion for the quarter compared to $7.9 billion year over year.

Imperial’s results beat expectations by a wide margin. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting the company to earn $1.09 per fully reported share and post revenues of about $7.4 billion.

Imperial is majority owned by Houston-based energy heavyweight ExxonMobil Corp.

Construction on Imperial’s $10.9-billion Kearl project is on track to start up by the end of this year. Last year, Imperial’s board of directors approved an $8.9-billion expansion that will begin producing 110,000 barrels per day by late 2015.

Imperial and its parent are in the early stages of weighing a liquefied natural gas export terminal on Canada’s West Coast to get a better price for the gas it produces in province’s northeast.

The acreage Imperial has in the Horn River Basin contains dry gas, which can fetch a price several times higher in Asia than it could in North America, which is awash in supplies.

ExxonMobil recently announced a deal to buy Calgarybased natural gas producer Celtic Exploration Ltd. for $3.1 billion. Imperial Oil isn’t part of the deal, but is evaluating the opportunity to take on a 50-percent stake in the future.