Cenovus CEO says oilsands dialogue ‘myopically focused on the climate agenda’ - BERITAJA

The main executive astatine Cenovus Energy Inc. says the nationalist speech about early oilsands improvement has been “myopically focused connected the ambiance agenda” a time aft a conjugation of greenish groups lamented the “unhelpful feedback loop” that’s taken guidelines about pipeline improvement and biology regulations.

“The consequence of this myopic dialogue… is that we person created a group of nationalist policies and regulations that make assets improvement and finance successful Canada uncompetitive pinch the remainder of the world,” Jon McKenzie told analysts connected a convention telephone Wednesday to talk first-quarter results, which included an 83 per cent profit increase.

Recent geopolitical turmoil has underscored really important power information is to nationalist and economical security, presenting an opportunity to Canadians “if they take to prehend it,” he said.

McKenzie said the statement has “ignored the multitude of benefits” oilsands improvement brings to Canada.

A sweeping power accord signed successful November betwixt Alberta and Ottawa outlines a way toward a caller oilsands pipeline to the West Coast, which would alteration greater exports of Canadian crude to Asia.

That pipeline would beryllium built successful tandem pinch a multi-billion dollar c seizure and retention task successful Alberta being developed by the Oil Sands Alliance, formerly the Pathways Alliance.

No backstage assemblage subordinate has stepped guardant to build the pipeline, but the Alberta authorities is preparing to record a regulatory exertion successful the coming months.

The memorandum of knowing besides includes an summation successful the business c value successful Alberta from the existent $95 a tonne level — though credits waste and acquisition for acold little presently — to an effective value of $130 a tonne.

McKenzie and others successful the manufacture person been arguing an accrued c value connected the assemblage would render it uncompetitive.

The Oil Sands Alliance — a group of the 5 biggest oilsands producers, including Cenovus — said successful a connection earlier this week that the levy would “limit our industry’s expertise to pull finance and grow.”

An study from the Canadian Climate Institute has pegged the per-barrel deed from the summation astatine an mean of 50 cents — about the costs of a Timbit.

Agreements connected the implementation of the c value and backing for the c seizure task person blown past the Alberta and national governments’ self-imposed April 1 deadline.

The Globe and Mail, citing unidentified provincial and national sources, reported Wednesday that the velocity astatine which the value would beryllium raised is the main sticking point, but that they’re making headway toward an agreement.

Six ambiance defense groups wrote a missive to Prime Minister Mark Carney connected Tuesday expressing interest that cardinal planks of the MOU stay unresolved.

They said Canada is stuck successful “an unhelpful feedback loop of discourse” about the request for a caller pipeline and the loosening of biology regulations connected the power sector.

They cited the summation successful the effective c value arsenic the about important constituent of the MOU and suggested the target beryllium reached by 2030. They added that tens of billions of dollars successful low-carbon finance bent successful the balance.

Meanwhile, connected the Cenovus convention call, McKenzie said the MOU whitethorn person group retired a way for a caller pipeline to beryllium built, but it fails to see policies that would incent greater oilsands accumulation to capable it.

The Alberta authorities has said the caller pipeline could transportation 1 cardinal barrels of crude a day.

Cenovus has been capable to turn its accumulation done acquisitions — for illustration its acquisition of MEG Energy past twelvemonth — and by squeezing much barrels retired of existing operations. But successful bid to turn output capable to capable a caller pipeline, the manufacture is going to person to return connected all-new from-scratch projects, McKenzie said.

“Greenfield improvement comes astatine a higher costs and a higher break-even than the maturation that you’ve seen to date,” he said.

While McKenzie and the Oil Sands Alliance blasted the drying up successful caller greenfield finance complete the past decade to authorities policy, clean-energy deliberation vessel Pembina Institute said lipid assemblage finance worldwide has ne'er returned to the levels it saw earlier the 2014 value collapse.

Earlier Wednesday, Cenovus raised its guidelines dividend by 10 per cent to 22 cents per stock arsenic it reported an 83 per cent jump successful profits.

The quarterly dividend of 22 cents per stock is resilient astatine a US$45 West Texas Intermediate crude lipid price, Cenovus said. The commodity is trading for much than double that currently.

Net net were $1.57 billion, aliases 83 cents per share, up from $859 million, aliases 47 cents per share, a twelvemonth earlier.

Revenue totalled $12.36 billion, down from $13.30 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier.

Total upstream accumulation was 972,100 barrels of lipid balanced per day, up from 818,900 successful the first 4th of 2025.

Downstream crude throughput was 458,500 barrels per day, down from 665,400 a twelvemonth earlier.