By Robb M. Stewart

Imperial Oil saw a modest rise in earnings for the first three months of the year as it benefited from a higher price for its heavy crude oil and the slump in the Canadian currency against the dollar, which helped counter lower production and refinery throughput.

The Exxon Mobil-controlled Canadian energy company's first-quarter net income rose to 1.29 billion Canadian dollars ($929.5 million), or C$2.52 a share, from C$1.2 billion, or C$2.23, a year earlier. The result included what the company said was a C$130 million favorable foreign exchange impact.

The oil and gas producer's revenue edged up 1.9% to C$12.52 billion.

Earnings from Imperial's upstream production operations rose to C$731 million in the latest quarter, from C$558 million last year, thanks to a rise in the average price it realized for its bitumen that was driven by a narrowing in spreads between benchmark Canadian and U.S. oil prices. Prices for its synthetic crude oil also improved on a year earlier.

Production averaged 418,000 oil-equivalent barrels a day for the quarter, down from 421,000 barrels daily in the same period of 2024.

Earnings from the company's downstream refining segment fell to $584 million from $631 million in 2024, largely due to maintenance during the latest period. Refinery throughput declined to 397,000 barrels a day on average from 407,000 a year earlier, and refinery capacity utilization dipped to 91% from 94% last year.

Gross bitumen production at the Kearl oil sands venture in Alberta with Exxon averaged 256,000 barrels a day, down from 277,000 barrels a year earlier as operations were affected by extreme cold weather and unplanned downtime. Bitumen production at Imperial's Cold Lake oil sands operation in northeastern Alberta averaged 154,000 barrels a day, up from 142,000 barrels, and Imperial's share of production from the Syncrude Canada venture majority owned by Suncor Energy was steady on last year at 73,000 barrels a day.

In a presentation to investors in April, Imperial affirmed a target for production this year of between 433,000 and 456,000 oil-equivalent barrels a day from an output profile that includes roughly 3.3 billion barrels of proved and probable reserves. The company's production in 2024 averaged 433,000 barrels a day, the highest level in more than 30 years.

Imperial cautioned the global trade environment continues to be volatile, and it was uncertain how the threat of U.S. tariffs would affect its business, suppliers and customers. President Trump has this year imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and several other countries and Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs, though some of Trump's tariffs have been paused.

"The likelihood of the U.S., Canada or their trading partners resuming tariffs, imposing new or reciprocal tariffs, export restrictions, or other forms of trade-related sanctions is highly uncertain," the company said. It was continuing to monitor the environment and working to mitigate potential effects.

Company veteran John Whelan became president at the start of April and takes over as chairman and chief executive May 8, with the retirement of Brad Corson who has held the roles since early 2020.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2025 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)

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