Canadian oil firms fight back
The sector’s biggest companies staunched some of their losses across the second quarter, but the results still made for depressing reading
The Canadian oil patch performed much better than expected in the second quarter. Firms took swift and dramatic action in March and April to slash capital spending, and in many cases dividends, to protect their balance sheets. Despite a massive collapse in revenue, combined losses for the country’s five largest oil and gas producers—Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy, Imperial Oil and Husky Energy—were less than a quarter of what they were in the first three months of the year. All five indicated plans to maintain capital spending discipline and low levels of drilling through to at least the end of this year, given continuing Covid-related market uncertainty, an
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
