One year after oil prices crashed to their first and only negative close during a perfect storm of energy demand bad news, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 oilpatch is poised to report a first-quarter gush of cash flow thanks to a dramatic recovery in global demand.
On April 20, 2020, the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate near-month contract price ended the day down a whopping US$55.90 at an unprecedented B次元官网网址�$37.63 per barrel.
The negative close was caused by a mix of technical commodities market factors and concerns about oversupply as storage tanks grew dangerously close to full amid a collapse in demand fuelled by pandemic lockdowns and short-lived price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, said senior commodity analyst Martin King of RBN Energy in Calgary.
B次元官网网址淓veryone was very, very negative on oil and oil demand,B次元官网网址� he recalled in an interview, adding the remarkable level of stabilization since shows how resilient the oilpatch can be.
B次元官网网址淪o the market essentially wound up balancing itself out and we had a recovery from the depths of hell to not quite to heaven in terms of current prices, but certainly a very large scale recovery.
B次元官网网址淭hose two forces of supply and demand were brought back into a much better balance and with the demand recovery weB次元官网网址檙e seeing this year, weB次元官网网址檙e seeing inventories worldwide get drawn down to more normal levels.B次元官网网址�
On Friday, the WTI price settled at US$63.19 per barrel, a level at which most production in North America, including in the Alberta oilsands, is profitable, said King.
WTI daily spot prices have averaged US$60.46 per barrel so far in the second quarter, up from US$58.13 in the first quarter. Both are a far cry from the US$27.95 per barrel average in the second quarter of 2020.
On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency raised its world oil demand estimate for 2021, pointing to further signs that the global economy is recovering faster than previously expected, particularly in the U.S. and China.
It now expects world oil demand to expand by 5.7 million barrels per day in 2021 to 96.7 million bpd, following a collapse of 8.7 million bpd last year.
Expectations are high for the Canadian oilpatchB次元官网网址檚 first-quarter results season, which starts Monday after markets close with PrairieSky Royalty Ltd., several analysts who cover the sector said in reports over the past week.
B次元官网网址淓merging from one of the worst cycles in recent memory, we believe the sector is now positioned in some of the healthiest ranks,B次元官网网址� says a report from analysts at National Bank Financial.
B次元官网网址淭he survival mode necessitated and forced companies to reconsider capital spending habits, dividend policies, acquisitions and divestitures, cash cost management, and operational practices. Combined with the much-improved macro backdrop, the sector finds itself in an enviable position to deliver meaningful free cash flow at current price levels.B次元官网网址�
RBC analyst Michael Harvey, who covers intermediate-sized oil and gas companies, said in a report that he expects first quarter cash flow per share for oil-weighted producers will be 39 per cent higher quarter-over-quarter, while gas-weighted producers will report a 45 per cent rise, B次元官网网址渄riven by broad strength in commodity prices.B次元官网网址�
The end of AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 mandatory crude quota program in December means that oilsands producers will show a B次元官网网址渟ignificant uptickB次元官网网址� in production in the first quarter, said CIBC analysts in a report. CanadaB次元官网网址檚 discount to the U.S. benchmark oil price is likely to shrink in April and May, the CIBC report said, as planned maintenance shutdowns take at least 500,000 barrels of western Canadian crude per day offline.
The analysts expect the cash stockpiles to be used for debt reduction and balance sheet repair after a year of COVID-19 induced shock, rather than a rush into capital spending, although they expect a recent consolidation trend to continue.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 consistent with the message presented by Alex Pourbaix, CEO of oilsands producer Cenovus Energy Inc., who said earlier this month the company would use expected higher oil prices this year to pay down debt in the wake of its $3.8-billion takeover of Husky Energy Inc.
B次元官网网址淲e are going to be basically paying all of our free cash onto our balance sheet until we get to $10 billion (in net debt) but ultimately IB次元官网网址檇 like to get significantly lower B次元官网网址� something in the range of $8 billion,B次元官网网址� said Pourbaix at an investor symposium.
B次元官网网址淎s we move from 10 to eight, weB次元官网网址檒l start to consider returning cash to shareholders or maybe modest growth.B次元官网网址�
Dan Healing, The Canadian Press
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