Canadian Natural Resources will increase production and spending by 2025

Canadian Natural Resources announced on Thursday that it expects to see production increase by 12%, and capital expenditures rise by 13.5% in 2025. The company is betting on an increased demand due to tight oil supply.

Canadian oil producers are projecting higher production in 2025. They bet on the resilient demand for Canadian crude oil on international markets.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, fuel demand in the United States will increase in 2025, as the industrial sector is expected to benefit from a reduction in borrowing rates.

Canadian producers also benefited from the launch of the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline earlier last year. This has almost tripled the flow to Canada's Pacific Coast of oil from landlocked Alberta. It has boosted the Canadian crude price and opened market access to refineries on the U.S. West Coast and in Asia.

Canadian Natural Resources announced that it aims to drill 361 wells in its liquid-rich assets and crude oil, with an annual capital budget of C$6.15 ($4.28 billion), higher than the forecast for 2024 of C$5.42 (C$5.42 billion).

According to the midpoint of the forecast, the company targets an annual average production between 1.510 million and 1.555 millions barrels of oil-equivalent per day (boepd). This would result in a production increase of 170,000 boepd, or 12 percent, over the 2024 level. $1 = 1.4384 Canadian Dollars (Reporting and editing by Shreya Biwas and Mrigank Dahaniwala in Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)