Canada’s Suncor Energy (SU) has reported operating earnings for this year’s first quarter of $1.81 billion, down 34% from a year earlier.
The Calgary-based energy company blamed the earnings decline primarily on decreased crude oil realizations and slumping prices for crude oil.
Suncor Energy’s net earnings in Q1 included a $302 million gain on the sale of its wind and solar assets to Canadian Utilities (CU) for $730 million.
Suncor said its total upstream production during Q1 was 742,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with 766,100 a year earlier.
Refinery crude throughput amounted to 367,700 barrels per day and the company’s refinery utilization rate was 79% in the first quarter ended March 31 of this year.
That compared to 436,500 barrels per day of production and a 94% utilization rate in the year earlier quarter.
The price of crude oil has fallen from a peak of $122 U.S. per barrel in June 2022 to $72.56 U.S. a barrel currently.
Suncor Energy’s stock has declined 12% in the last year to trade at $40.08 per share.
