UPDATE 1-Canadian Oil Sands posts quarterly loss

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July 30 (Reuters) - Canadian Oil Sands Ltd COS.TO , the
biggest shareholder in the Syncrude oil sands project, reported
a quarterly loss, hurt by fall in crude oil prices and deferred
tax expenses due to an increase in the provincial corporate tax
rate in Alberta.
The company also cut its 2015 capital spending forecast to
C$422 million ($325 million) from C$451 million. ID:nMKW13nnMa
The slump in oil prices has resulted in a drop in production
and investment in Canada's oil sands, the world's third-largest
crude reserve. Syncrude is the largest single-source producer of
oil in Canada.
Oil sands mining involves an expensive process of separating
tar-like bitumen from sand. It is then blended into heavy oil or
upgraded into synthetic oil.
Earlier this month, Teck Resources Ltd TCKb.TO said it
would delay development of its massive, high-cost Frontier oil
sands project in northern Alberta by five years. ID:nL1N0ZQ0OS
Calgary-based Canadian Oil Sands slashed its dividend to 5
Canadian cents from 20 Canadian cents in January. It had
previously cut the dividend from 35 Canadian cents.
The company said on Thursday that its realized selling price
fell to C$74.47 per barrel in the quarter ended June 30 from
C$112.04 a year earlier.
Cash flow, a key indicator of the company's ability to pay
for new projects and drilling, fell 71 percent to C$70 million.
Canadian Oil Sands reported a loss of C$128 million, or 26
Canadian cents per share. The company posted a profit of C$176
million, or 36 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.
The company said the deferred tax expense reflected an
increase in Alberta's corporate tax to 12 percent from 10
percent.
Canadian Oil Sands' stock, which has fallen more than 68
percent in the last 12 months, closed at C$7.62 on the Toronto
Stock Exchange.
($1 = 1.3002 Canadian dollars)