Canada : Canadian Natural Resources profit drops 77%.Byline: manish03 Profit at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 77% in the third quarter as oil and gas prices tumbled and its oil sands plant was hit by operational problems, Canada's No. 2 independent oil explorer said on Thursday. Still, Canadian Natural said it would boost capital spending capital spending Spending for long-term assets such as factories, equipment, machinery, and buildings that permits the production of more goods and services in future years. by 26% to $3.9-billion in 2010, showing some optimism for industry fundamentals. The 2010 budget still includes deep cuts in its natural gas business, however. It said it expects gas output to fall by 12% due to an 18% drop in drilling due to low prices and higher Alberta royalties. The company plans to boost North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. crude oil spending by 50% to take advantage of strong markets for heavy oil, where it is ramping up enhanced recovery operations Operations conducted to search for, locate, identify, rescue, and return personnel, sensitive equipment, or items critical to national security. , it said. In the third quarter, Canadian Natural's net income fell to $658-million, or $1.21 a share, from a year-earlier $2.8-billion, or $5.25 a share. The 2008 figure included $1.9-billion in net one-time gains. Analysts on average were expecting profit of $1.25 per share, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company's shares were off $1.70, or 2%, at $66.90 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) Canada's largest stock exchange, trading approximately 1,200 company stocks and 33 options. early on Thursday. They had risen 8.7% over the past 12 months. Most oil companies have posted lower quarterly earnings as the recession cut prices and demand for oil and natural gas. During the third quarter, benchmark oil prices averaged $68.24 a barrel, down 42% from a year earlier. Natural gas averaged $3.44 per million British thermal units British thermal unit, abbr. Btu, unit for measuring heat quantity in the customary system of English units of measurement, equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water at its maximum density [which occurs at a temperature of 39. on the New York Mercantile Exchange New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) The world's largest physical commodity futures exchange. , down 62%. Cash flow, a measure of the company's ability to pay for new projects and drilling, fell 17% to $1.5-billion, or $2.78 a share. The company, which is working to boost output at the new $9.7-billion Horizon oil sands project in northern Alberta Norhern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Its primary industry is oil and gas, with large heavy oil reserves being exploited at the Athabasca Oil Sands and Wabasca Area in the east of the region. , said its overall oil and gas liquids production rose 17% to 359,269 barrels a day. However, Horizon output, at 66.907 barrels of synthetic crude a day, was under target due to equipment failure at the ore preparation plant and higher clay content in the raw oil sands during September, the company said. It said it believes it has fixed the problems, but warned that the plant may face other struggles as it enters its first full winter of operations. Third-quarter natural gas production averaged 1.3 billion cubic feet a day, down 13% as the company shifted spending to oil operations. In 2010, Canadian Natural expects overall natural gas production to average 1.12 billion to 1.19 billion cubic feet a day and oil output to average 400,000-445,000 barrels a day. Copyright : Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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