Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) reported Q4 EPS of Cdn$0.46, versus Cdn$0.40 reported last year.

Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Net earnings of $396 million and adjusted net earnings of $565 million were realized in Q4/17. Canadian Natural generated significant funds flow from operations of $2,307 million in Q4/17, increases of $632 million and $630 million over Q3/17 and Q4/16 levels, respectively.
• The Company's corporate production volumes averaged a record 1,020,094 BOE/d in Q4/17, in-line with Q3/17 levels and a 19% increase from Q4/16 levels.
• Canadian Natural’s corporate crude oil and NGL production volumes averaged 744,100 bbl/d, a decrease of 2% from Q3/17 due to Horizon planned downtime for turnaround and tie-in activities. Crude oil and NGL production volumes increased from Q4/16 by 27% primarily as a result of high reliability and strong production from the Horizon Phase 2B and Phase 3 expansions and a full quarter of production from the AOSP.
• At the Company's world class Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading assets, the AOSP and Horizon, operations were strong in Q4/17 with quarterly production reaching 321,496 bbl/d of SCO.
  • At Horizon, the Phase 3 expansion was completed in Q4/17, marking the completion of the Company's transition to a long life low decline asset base.
    • Q4/17 production of 141,275 bbl/d of SCO was realized as the Company completed turnaround and tie-in activities for the Horizon Phase 3 expansion. As a result of the majority of the planned downtime coming in Q4/17, production in the quarter decreased from Q3/17 levels by 10%. The ramp-up of the Phase 3 expansion performed better than originally targeted, with December 2017 production averaging approximately 247,226 bbl/d of SCO, approximately 7,200 bbl/d of SCO greater than originally targeted.
    • Through safe, steady and reliable operations and a strong focus on continuous improvement, the Company realized average unadjusted operating costs of $32.29/bbl in Q4/17, a strong result given 33 days of planned downtime in the quarter as part of the 52 day turnaround and tie-in related to the Phase 3 expansion. After normalizing for planned downtime, quarterly operating costs were strong at $21.13/bbl of SCO in Q4/17.
  • At the AOSP in Q4/17, the Company's second full quarter of operations, production was 180,221 bbl/d of AOSP SCO, net to Canadian Natural, strong results given planned pitstops at the Jackpine and Muskeg River mines in the quarter. Including the impact of planned pit stops, operating costs of $27.95/bbl were achieved, an increase of 14% from Q3/17 levels.
• Thermal in situ operations were strong in Q4/17, with production averaging 124,121 bbl/d, in-line with Q3/17 and a 4% decrease from Q4/16 levels.
  • Primrose production was strong in Q4/17 averaging 84,834 bbl/d, an increase of 5% from Q3/17. Including energy costs, operating costs of $11.16/bbl were achieved in the quarter.
  • Kirby South, the Company's SAGD project achieved production of 35,320 bbl/d in Q4/17.
    • Including energy costs, strong operating costs of $9.74/bbl were achieved in the quarter. Kirby South's Steam to Oil Ratio ("SOR") was 2.9 in Q4/17, as the Company began steam circulation of new well pairs drilled in Q4/17. Normalized to exclude wells in circulation, the SOR was 2.7 in Q4/17.
• Pelican Lake heavy crude oil production of 65,654 bbl/d in Q4/17 increased by 38% from both Q3/17 and Q4/16 levels, as a result of a full quarter of production of the fully integrated, recently acquired assets. Operations continued to be optimized in the quarter, resulting in favorable operating costs of $6.81/bbl in Q4/17, increases of 14% and 4% from Q3/17 and Q4/16 levels respectively, due to the integration of acquired assets.
• Primary heavy crude oil production averaged 99,326 bbl/d in Q4/17, in-line with Q3/17, as a result of the Company's successful drilling program.
• North America light crude oil and NGL quarterly production averaged 94,437 bbl/d, representing 2% and 8% increases from Q3/17 and Q4/16 levels respectively, as a result of a successful drilling program.
• The Company's North America natural gas production in Q4/17 averaged 1,596 MMcf/d, in-line with Q3/17 and Q4/16 levels.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) click here.