CALGARY
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter profits as surging global oil prices boosted revenue.
Canadian Natural posted an adjusted profit of $1.65 per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.45 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The country's largest oil and gas producer said its output grew to 1.65 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the third quarter, from 1.62 million boepd a year earlier.
Canadian Natural’s third-quarter realized prices for exploration and production liquids stood at $95.93 per barrel, compared with $72.57 per barrel a year earlier.
Suncor Energy reported an adjusted operating profit of $3.97 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.28 per share, according to LSEG data.
The Calgary-based company's upstream production fell 2% to 852,500 barrels per day while refinery throughput fell slightly to 487,700 bpd.
However, higher oil prices helped drive revenue from oil sands production up 32% to C$9.32 billion.
Revenues from its refining operations surged over 65% to about C$13.4 billion, driven by a more than two-fold jump in benchmark crack spreads, allowing refiners to earn significantly more from processing each barrel of crude.
The average price of benchmark Brent crude was 31% higher at $89.27 per barrel for the quarter compared with a year earlier.
Surging global oil prices following the Iran conflict has provided a favourable backdrop for Canadian oil sands producers, given their relatively stable, long-life reserves.
Integrated oil companies such as Imperial Oil and Suncor have benefited from a global fuel market roiled by the war, with the higher oil prices strengthening margins in both production and refining.
Suncor announced a quarterly dividend of 66 Canadian cents per share payable December 24, a 10% increase compared to prior quarter.
In October, Suncor agreed to sell its interests in three offshore Canada oil assets to Ithaca for C$1.2 billion and increased share repurchases from C$500 million to C$750 million per month beginning in October.
Murphy Oil also tops estimates
Murphy Oil Corp. also reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates, posting adjusted earnings of $1.08 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.91 per share.
This compares to earnings of $0.41 per share a year ago.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +18.68%.
The company posted revenues of $854.97 million for the quarter ended September 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.52%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $732.98 million.
Murphy Oil shares have added about 26.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 10.6%.
Last week, Imperial Oil also beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit, backed by strong refining margins.
e2gold.ca reported earlier this month that Cenovus Energy Inc. reported record third-quarter production of 1.024 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by The Globe and Mail, Yahoo News and Offshore Engineer Magazine. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.