https://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/news/2022/2/3/imperial-sets-new-production-records-kearl-despite-cold-december
3 February 2022
Imperial Oil says 2021 turned out to be a record-breaking year for the company, despite exceptionally cold weather in December.
The Kearl Mine produced 270,000 bbl/day in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year production to an annualized record 263,000 bbl/day. Kearl output touched a monthly record 332,000 bbl/day last June, thanks to the completion of several optimization projects. The company plans to boost Kearl’s nameplate capacity to 280,000 bbl/day this year, due in part to consolidation of its maintenance shutdowns.
Thermal in-situ production out of Cold Lake averaged 142,000 bbl/day, bringing the annualized average to 140,000 bbl/day. Those figures are up about 5% year-over-year, on continued production optimization and reliability enhancements.
A strong performance out of its oil sands assets boosted total upstream output to a 30-year record of 428,000 boe/day.
Full-year capital spending totalled $1.14 billion last year, up from $874 million spent in 2020. The company says it progressed a number of key projects, including Kearl in-pit tailings infrastructure and replacement of the Sarnia products pipeline.
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Parent-company ExxonMobil announced a corporate restructuring earlier this week, as part of its plans to save US$6 billion in "structural costs" by 2023. Last month, Imperial and Exxon announced plans to divest jointly-owed XTO Energy's Alberta gas properties, in order to focus on its key oil sands assets. A buyer has yet to be announced, and the companies say no decision has yet been made on the sale. XTO Energy Canada owns a number of assets in the Montney and Duvernay areas of central Alberta.
Imperial reported a fourth quarter profit of $813 million, and $2.5 billion for the full-year 2021. The company generated $4.5 billion in free cash flow last year, and raised its quarterly dividend by 26%.