Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) reported Q3 EPS of $0.35, $0.14 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.49.

Canadian Natural's President, Tim McKay, commented on the third quarter results stating "The resilience of our business model, as witnessed in our third quarter 2020 results, demonstrates Canadian Natural's competitive advantage as the strength of our long life low decline asset base allows the Company to effectively manage through commodity price cycles while preserving net asset value. Canadian Natural is focused on continuous improvement and is on track for the targeted operating cost savings in 2020 of approximately $745 million dollars. With a disciplined capital program in 2020 of approximately $2.7 billion, we have been able to maintain our production volumes, grow our dividend and keep a strong balance sheet.

In the third quarter, we increased liquids production from our North America Exploration and Production ("E&P") assets by approximately 20% from Q2/20 levels to 494,952 bbl/d and achieved record daily thermal in situ production in the quarter of 287,978 bbl/d, while achieving low thermal operating costs of $7.85/bbl (US$5.89/bbl). These results were achieved as we successfully executed on our curtailment optimization strategy while we conducted planned maintenance and turnaround activities in our Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading segment.

Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") performance remains a priority and investments in improving environmental performance and reducing our environmental footprint continue in the current pricing environment. We recently released our 2019 Report to Stakeholders, which highlights our commitment to ESG excellence and reducing our environmental footprint.

Subsequent to quarter end, the acquisition of Painted Pony Energy Ltd. ("Painted Pony") closed on October 6, 2020. With a significant amount of pre-built infrastructure, these high quality assets in the Townsend areas of Northeast British Columbia complement our already high quality natural gas asset base in Western Canada. The Company’s natural gas production, targeted at over 1.6 Bcf/d in the fourth quarter, and associated natural gas liquids is forecast to generate approximately $1.2 billion in annualized operating cash flow at current strip pricing."

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