CNRL output drops, Horizon work deferred

Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) produced 509,047 b/d of crude oil and NGL during the second quarter, down from 545,169 b/d during the second quarter of 2014.

North American crude oil and NGL production fell to 270,021 b/d from 285,740 b/d a year earlier. The company expects to produce 265,000-271,000 b/d in the third quarter and 274,000-284,000 b/d in 2015.

North American light crude oil and NGL production declined to 89,226 b/d from 93,000 b/d a year earlier, while operating costs declined to C$15.29/bl ($11.66/bl) from C$17.56/bl ($13.39/bl) a year earlier.

Pelican Lake production climbed to 52,015 b/d from 49,600 b/d, while operating costs declined to C$6.98/bl from C$8.92/bl a year earlier.

Primary heavy crude oil production fell to 128,780 b/d from 143,200 b/d a year earlier, while operating costs fell to C$14.92/bl from C$17.61/bl a year earlier.

The company's thermal in situ production declined to 105,019 b/d from 114,414 b/d a year earlier as forest fires in northeastern Alberta curtailed output from late May to early June at Primrose and Kirby South. The 40,000 b/d Kirby South project produced 26,193 b/d during the second quarter and around 32,000 b/d in July.

CNRL expects to produce 128,000-142,000 b/d in the third quarter and 126,000-140,000 b/d in 2015.

The company's 137,000 b/d Horizon oil sands upgrader produced 96,607 b/d during the second quarter, down from 119,236 b/d a year earlier. The facility produced around 124,200 b/d in July.

The company completed a 15 day turnaround at Horizon during the second quarter. CNRL has deferred a "full maintenance turnaround" originally scheduled for the third quarter of 2015 to the second quarter of 2016.

CNRL expects to produce 124,000-131,000 b/d of synthetic crude oil (SCO) at Horizon during the third quarter and 121,000-131,000 b/d in 2015.

Operating costs at Horizon declined to C$29.25/bl during the second quarter from C$36.61/bl a year earlier.

CNRL's Phase 2B Horizon expansion will increase the upgrader's production capacity by 45,000 b/d when it comes online in late 2016, and the Phase 3 expansion will boost capacity by 80,000 b/d when it comes online in late 2017.

The company's North Sea oil production increased to 20,330 b/d from 12,615 b/d a year earlier, while operating costs declined to C$60.61/bl from C$79.21/bl. Production offshore Côte d'Ivoire climbed to 17,070 b/d from 13,164 b/d a year earlier, while operating costs fell to C$43.88/bl from C$58.41/bl.

CNRL expects to produce 42,000-46,000 b/d of crude oil outside North America during the third quarter and 41,000-47,000 b/d in 2015.

The company produced 1.779bn cf/d of natural gas during the quarter, up from 1.634bn cf/d a year earlier.

CNRL reported a loss of C$405mn ($308.32mn) after reporting a profit of C$1.070bn a year earlier.

jf/tdf

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