{"id":11487,"date":"2024-08-02T09:27:52","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T09:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/?p=11487"},"modified":"2024-08-02T09:27:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T09:27:52","slug":"canadian-natural-resources-curtailing-production-from-new-natural-gas-wells-as-low-prices-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/11487\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Natural Resources curtailing production from new natural gas wells as low prices persist"},"content":{"rendered":"

RoydadNaft – <\/a><\/span>\u00a0Canada\u2019s largest oil and gas producer is postponing the start of production from some of its planned new natural gas wells due to persistent low prices.<\/p>\n

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. said Thursday about 20 of its remaining planned 2024 natural gas wells will be drilled this year, but the company will curtail production from them until prices improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t give you an exact price, but it has to be better than what it is now,\u201d said CNRL president Scott Stauth on a conference call with analysts, adding he expects prices could rebound enough to bring the wells online by late 2024 or early 2025.<\/p>\n

Low natural gas prices, the result of too much supply in the market, are hurting producers all over North America. Companies are shutting in production or delaying and cancelling projects.<\/p>\n

This week, U.S. natural gas futures hit a new 12-week low, in spite of hot summer conditions, which usually bode well for natural gas because warm weather boosts the need for electricity-driven air conditioning.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason for the current glut in supply is that North American oil output is increasing. Major oil producers are pumping out more oil in the face of strong demand and healthy prices, and producing natural gas as a byproduct of that process.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Stauth said CNRL has shifted some of its natural gas development focus this year to higher-return multilateral heavy oil wells.<\/p>\n

The startup of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in May has boosted prices for Canadian heavy oil producers, which prior to the pipeline\u2019s opening took a significant discount on their product compared to U.S. competitors simply due to a lack of export capacity.<\/p>\n

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Trans Mountain startup will boost Canadian oil production to all-time high: Deloitte<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

CNRL holds the largest heavy oil land base in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact on the energy industry has been and will continue to be positive,\u201d Stauth said of Trans Mountain\u2019s completion.<\/p>\n

CNRL\u2019s earnings were up in the second quarter in part because of higher oil sales and prices.<\/p>\n

The company said its earnings were $1.72 billion for the quarter ending June 30, up from $1.46 billion for the same quarter last year.<\/p>\n

Earnings worked out to 80 cents per diluted share, up from 66 cents last year.<\/p>\n

Adjusted net earnings from operations were $1.89 billion, up from $1.26 billion last year.<\/p>\n

The company said production volumes in the quarter were 1.29 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up eight per cent from the same quarter last year.<\/p>\n

That came in slightly ahead of analysts\u2019 expectations of $1.27 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.<\/p>\n

In July, CNRL said it produced the one billionth barrel of bitumen from its Horizon oilsands facility since operations began there in 2009.<\/p>\n

The company has said it believes the output at Horizon could be increased by 195,000 barrels per day of synthetic crude oil, a 76-per-cent hike from the mine\u2019s current capacity of approximately 255,000 barrels per day.<\/p>\n

But Stauth said Thursday that plan is dependent on a number of conditions, including government support for the oilsands industry\u2019s proposed Pathways Alliance carbon capture and storage project.<\/p>\n

He said the Pathways group remains in talks with both provincial and federal governments in an effort to find a funding model that would allow the proposed $16.5-billion carbon transportation network to go ahead.<\/p>\n

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