Imperial focuses on production

Article Excerpt

Imperial Oil is selling its remaining Esso gas stations. This will let the company focus on its oil sands operations. These projects will prosper when oil prices recover, and enhance the company’s growth prospects. IMPERIAL OIL $41.25 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $34.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.4%; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated oil company with oil sands projects in Alberta and conventional oil and gas operations across Western Canada. It also operates three refineries. Imperial is now selling its 497 company-owned Esso gas stations to independent operators for $2.8 billion. Following the sale, franchisees will operate all 1,700 Esso stations across Canada. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Imperial produced an average of 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (95% oil and 5% natural gas). That’s up 27.0% from 315,000 barrels a year earlier. However, even with the higher output, lower oil and gas prices cut Imperial’s revenue by 22.5%, to $6.2…