Earnings for oil patch to be released next week
Posted Apr 20, 2013 8:19 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An analyst with CIBC World Markets predicts oilsands producers will face less than scintillating returns when first quarter financial results are announced this coming week.
Andrew Potter points to the price differential between light and heavy oil.
That view is shared by Calgary investment bank Peters & Company, according to The Calgary Herald. The company expects production levels to be flat in the first quarter with cash flow slipping seven per cent from the fourth quarter of 2012.
The price differential between the two grades of crude has been dubbed the Bitumen Bubble by Premier Alison Redford. According to Bloomberg, the price difference in the first quarter for unprocessed bitumen and West Texas Intermediate was more than “$27 a barrel.
One ray of sunshine however is the price of natural gas which averaged $3.48 in the first quarter of the year, compared to $2.83 a unit a year ago.
