Petro-Canada shows record earnings; fourth quarter hurt by Enron issues

Allen Baker

Petro-Canada bucked a decline in fourth-quarter earnings to post record profits in 2001 of $904 million (Canadian), slightly above 2000’s C$893 million.

For the fourth quarter, operating earnings were C$71 million, less than a fourth of the C$287 million a year earlier. Those earnings were also less than half of the C$149 million the company made in 2001’s third quarter. The fourth quarter was marked by a C$15 million charge against earnings due to the bankruptcy filing of Enron Corp.

Production totaled 205,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily for the quarter, down from 211,000 a year earlier but up from the third quarter’s 190,800.

Upstream profits were C$52 million, compared with C$244 million a year earlier. Downstream operations brought in C$48 million, down from C$66 million in 2000’s fourth quarter.

Revenue for the quarter slid 39 percent to C$1.77 billion, from C$2.90 billion a year earlier. For the full year, revenues totaled C$8.69 billion, a decline of 9 percent from C$9.52 billion in 2000.