Imperial Oil profit surges

SCOTT HAGGETT <a href=www.canada.com>CanWest News Service Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Cites high petroleum prices, strong demand. Greenpeace protesters demonstrate outside company's annual meeting in Toronto yesterday

Imperial Oil Ltd. said yesterday its first-quarter profit surged to a record as Canada's biggest oil company reaped the benefit of high petroleum prices and strong demand for gasoline and heating.

Toronto-based Imperial, which operates Esso gas stations, said its earnings in the quarter rose nearly five-fold compared with the same period last year, reaching $538 million, or $1.42 a share, on revenue of $5.48 billion. In the first quarter of 2002, profit was $110 million, or 29 cents, on revenue of $3.49 billion.

The skyrocketing profit came as oil reached a record high as the looming war in Iraq and turmoil in Venezuela threatened supplies and a cold winter boosted natural-gas prices to more than double the average of last year's first quarter.

"First-quarter earnings were the best in company history, contrasting sharply with the extraordinarily weak results of the previous year," said Tim Hearn, the company's chief executive.

Imperial, a 70-per-cent-owned arm of ExxonMobil Corp. - the world's biggest oil company - held its annual meeting in Toronto yesterday as protesters from Greenpeace, angry with the firm's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, demonstrated outside.

A motion calling for the company to detail potential liabilities for greenhouse gases was defeated, as 95.4 per cent of shareholders voted against.

The company's refining division posted a $139-million profit in the quarter, up from a $37-million loss last year as profit margins increased.

Calgary Herald