Canada's Cenovus Maintains Capex Despite Upstream Hit Due to Wildfires

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Canada-based Cenovus Energy Incorporated (NYSE:CVE) (Calgary, Alberta) plans to maintain its spend of between US$1.2 billion and US$1.7 billion on companywide optimization and growth projects in 2023, despite the oil and natural gas developer's drop in second-quarter upstream throughput due to wildfires in Alberta. Industrial Info is tracking more than US$15 billion worth of active projects from Cenovus, nearly US$10 billion of which is in Canada's Oil Sands--where the company is expanding its footprint.

According to an earnings-related press release, Cenovus' total upstream production in the second quarter was about 730,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d), down from 779,000 in the first quarter, due to production impacts in the company's Conventional segment in May and June because of Alberta wildfires. The segment includes oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) assets in Western Canada. The drop also reflected a planned three-week turnaround at its Foster Creek oil sands in Alberta. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production Project Database can read a detailed project report on the turnaround.

On the earnings-related conference call, Chief Financial Officer John McKenzie said 85,000 BOE/d of natural gas and NGL production were temporarily shut in through most of May and part of June due to the wildfires. Production in the Conventional segment was 104,600 BOE/d in the second quarter compared with 123,900 in the first quarter. However, Cenovus did not see any "significant damage" to its assets, and production at all but one facility returned to normal rates in late June. About 5,000 to 7,000 BOE/d are offline at the Rainbow Lake natural gas complex in Alberta due to a separate issue.

Last month, the Alberta government ended a state of emergency for the wildfires. And on Cenovus' most recent earnings call, Executive Vice President of Natural Gas & Technical Services Joseph Zieglgansberger said he thinks the risk "has been reduced significantly."

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, as of July 27, there were 1,004 active fires across Canada, with just 132 in Alberta.

For more information on the Canadian oil market's recovery following the wildfires, see Industrial Info's June 6, 2023, article, Canada's Oil Market Survives Wildfires, Expects Major Growth.

Despite the upstream woes, Cenovus' capital investment of US$755 million in the second quarter was "primarily directed towards sustaining production in the Oil Sands segment, the ongoing construction of the West White Rose project," the company said in a press release, among other efforts that include "refining reliability initiatives in the U.S." and completing a rebuild of its Superior Refinery in Wisconsin.

On the earnings call, McKenzie said the company reached couple of major milestones on the West White Rose offshore oil drilling project in the Atlantic, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, which is expected to incur about US$3.2 billion of investment before its first oil is produced in 2026. The project involves the construction of a platform 217 miles offshore in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin (Grand Banks) to produce 52,500 barrels per day (BBL/d), with a daily peak of 80,000 BBL/d by 2029.

About 45,000 BBL/d of the eventual daily peak production will be net to Cenovus. Subscribers can click here to read a detailed project report.

Despite the dip in upstream production for the second quarter, Cenovus' downstream throughput averaged almost 538,000 BBL/d, up from nearly 458,000 BBL/d in the first quarter. Throughput increased throughout the quarter as the company fully restarted one U.S. refinery--the 160,000-BBL/d Toledo Refinery in Oregon--and the 50,000-BBL/d Superior Refinery began ramping up. On the earnings call, Executive Vice President Keith Chaisson noted downstream throughput is at almost 700,000 BBL/d currently, with most assets online with the exception of the Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCCU) Unit at Superior.

The Superior Refinery had been offline since 2018 due to an explosion and fire, and Toledo experienced a fire in September that killed two employees. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Petroleum Refining Project Database read more information on the Superior rebuild project.

In terms of projects in development, Cenovus is working to expand both its oil sands production and refining throughput. In late-stage development is its Foster Creek Phase H Bitumen Production Field and Processing Plant Addition, located north of La Corey, Alberta. The project will expand field bitumen-production facilities and includes construction of a 30,000-BBL/d bitumen processing plant, bringing total site production capacity to 230,000 BBL/d, utilizing steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology to produce bitumen from oil sands. Construction is planned to kick off in September, with completion in the first quarter of 2024. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

Cenovus also is preparing for a 40,000-BBL/d FCCU upgrade at its refinery in Lima, Ohio, which, as a whole, can process up to 165,000 BBL/d. Subscribers can read a detailed project report.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active projects from Cenovus.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).