By Robb M. Stewart

Canadian Natural Resources is scaling back spending plans for the year thanks to cost savings, while sticking to its annual production target after record output in the first quarter.

The Canadian energy company, which has a portfolio of assets in North America, the U.K. North Sea and offshore Africa, recorded a jump in net earnings to 2.46 billion Canadian dollars ($1.78 billion), or C$1.17 a share, in the first three months of the year against C$987 million, or C$0.46, a year earlier.

The result was buoyed by an increase in sales volumes and prices.

Stripping out certain costs and fluctuations in exchange rates, adjusted per-share earnings from operations came in at C$1.16, beating the C$1.03 mean forecast of analysts polled by FactSet.

Product sales for the quarter rose 35% to C$12.71 billion, with increases in both the crude oil and natural-gas liquids segment and in natural gas.

Production for the quarter averaged 1.58 million oil-equivalent barrels a day, 7.6% ahead of the prior quarter and 19% higher than in the same period last year. The output included a record 1.17 million barrels daily liquids production and record natural gas output of 2,451 barrels a day of liquids and 2.45 billion cubic feet a day. The company's oil sands mining operations also delivered all-time high production of 595,116 barrels a day, up 34% on a year earlier.

Canadian Natural in December finalized the $6.5 billion acquisition of Chevron's 20% interest in the Athabasca oil sands project, adding about 62,500 barrels a day of production, and a 70% interest in the Duvernay shale in Alberta, which will bring roughly 60,000 barrels a day of liquids plus natural gas. It expects to close an asset swap deal with Shell by mid-year for the remaining 10% stake in the Athabasca project's mines, which it estimated will add about 31,000 barrels a day of bitumen.

The company said that in the first few months of operating the Duvernay assets it achieved strong production results and cost reductions. Capturing cost efficiencies throughout Canadian Natural's operations year-to-date has positioned it to reduce its 2025 capital budget by C$100 million, resulting in an updated total forecast of C$6.05 billion with no effect on planned operating activities or targeted production levels for 2025, it said.

In 2024, Canadian Natural delivered annual average daily production of 1.36 million oil-equivalent barrels, an increase of about 2%.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 08, 2025 06:54 ET (10:54 GMT)

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