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April 26 (Reuters) - Canadian oil company Cenovus Energy Inc CVE.TO CVE.N reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as operating costs fell, while oil sands production rose.
Oil and gas companies have sharply cut costs and have been consolidating assets following a two-year slump in crude prices.
Cenovus last month agreed to buy most of ConocoPhillips' Canadian oil and gas assets in a C$17 billion deal that effectively doubled the size of the Canadian oil company.
Cenovus, which has laid off nearly a third of its workforce since the end of 2014, said operating costs for its oil sands fell 6 percent to C$8.97 per barrel in the first quarter.
The company said on Wednesday that operating margin was C$450 million, a three-fold increase from last year, helped by higher commodity prices.
Total oil production rose about 19 percent to 234,914 barrels per day.
The company's net profit was C$211 million ($155.54 million), or 25 Canadian cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of C$118 million, or 14 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. loss was 5 Canadian cents per share, while analysts on average were estimating a loss of 8 Canadian cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The Calgary, Canada-based company has lost nearly a fifth of its value since the deal with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was announced in late-March. = 1.3566 Canadian dollars)