Cenovus Vitality studies earnings for Q3, reaches debt discount goal

In July, after a number of years of prioritizing debt compensation, Cenovus reached its debt discount goal—bringing its whole internet debt to $4.0 billion. The milestone means Cenovus will now not be recurrently directing a portion of its money circulate in direction of its stability sheet, a improvement that frees up funds for different functions.

Cenovus’s plans for extra money

However McKenzie stated the surplus money will likely be 100% returned to shareholders, most probably within the type of share buybacks, and gained’t be used to embark on any new progress methods or M&A alternatives.

“It’s going to be good to run this enterprise mannequin at 100% shareholder returns going ahead, and that’s actually what we’re targeted on as we speak—simply sticking to our knitting and executing on what’s in entrance of us, versus attempting to tackle new challenges or modifying methods,” McKenzie advised analysts and reporters.

The corporate stated its extra free funds circulate within the quarter ending June 30 was $735 million, up from $505 million in the identical quarter a yr earlier. The corporate reported revenues of $14.9 billion for the second quarter, up from $12.2 billion for a similar quarter final yr.

Within the second quarter, Cenovus loaded its first vessels on the Westridge Marine Terminal in Vancouver following the profitable startup of the Trans Mountain pipeline enlargement, on which it’s a main contracted shipper.

Notes for the remainder of 2024

In mild of robust year-to-date outcomes, Cenovus revised its 2024 manufacturing forecast Thursday. The corporate now expects whole upstream manufacturing of between 785,000 and 810,000 barrels of oil equal per day, up from a previous forecast of 770,000 to 810,000 boe/d.

McKenzie stated Cenovus is now practically 90% completed development the Narrows Lake tie-back at its Christina Lake oilsands website. The tie-back undertaking is a 17-kilometre pipeline that connects the Narrows Lake reservoir to the Christina Lake essential processing facility, and can lead to as much as 30,000 barrels per day of further manufacturing from the location beginning in late 2025. 

The corporate additionally continues to work to enhance efficiency at its U.S. refinery operations, which lately have been affected by unplanned outages and upkeep points.