Weak prices push Canada’s Tourmaline lower in Q2
Weak commodity prices, alongside fire-related production impacts in the Deep Basin and Montney gas plays, pushed net income at Tourmaline Oil lower in the second quarter, Canada’s largest natural gas producer reported August 2.
Net earnings for the three-month period fell to C$510.7mn (US$382.4mn) from C$1.74bn in Q2 2022. Cash flow declined to C$784mn from C$1.35bn, while free cash flow dropped to C$545.5mn from C$1.11bn.
Natural gas production averaged 2.31bn ft3/day in Q2 2023, Tourmaline said, down slightly from 2.34bn ft3/day in the year-ago period and largely attributed to wildfire disruptions in the Alberta Deep Basin and the BC Montney in the early part of the quarter.
Tourmaline recorded an average realised natural gas price in Q2 2023 of C$4.31/’000 ft3, well above the AECO 5A benchmark price of C$2.46/’000 ft3 but a third lower than the C$6.31/’000 ft3 average in Q2 2022, when strong international demand pushed North American gas prices higher.
In the second quarter, the company entered into an incremental 106mn ft3/day of export contracts, which will increase its total export exposure to 1.03bn ft3/day by the end of this year. It also joined Rockies LNG Partners, which is working with BC’s Nisga’a Nation and Houston-based Western LNG on the 12mn tonnes/year Ksi Lisims LNG project in northwestern BC.