* Production could fall to 70,000 bpd if co loses power
* Cuts 2016 production forecast by 7,000 boe/d
* Adj loss of C$0.50/shr vs est loss of C$0.57
(Adds comments from conference call, details)
May 5 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO
CNQ.N said its oil sands operations were stable after some
outages due to the massive wildfire raging in the country's
energy heartland.
Executives on the company's post-earnings conference call
did not specify what the outages were.
The massive wildfire near Fort McMurray in Alberta has
prompted companies, including Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO and
Shell (LON:RDSa) Canada, to shutter nearly one-third of the nation's oil
sands production and has closed key pipelines.
Canadian Natural's production could go down to 70,000
barrels per day (bpd) if the company's Horizon oil sands project
- located just north of Fort McMurray - were to lose power, an
executive said on the call.
The company expects to produce 120,000-132,000 bpd from its
oil sands operations this year.
Canadian Natural, the country's largest independent
petroleum producer, also reported a smaller-than-expected
quarterly loss on Thursday, sending its shares up nearly 4
percent in Toronto and New York.
Wildfires raging in neighboring British Columbia could hurt
the company's natural gas production by 32 million cubic feet
per day and its natural gas liquids (NGL) output by 900 bpd, the
executive said.
Virtually all of Canadian Natural's natural gas and NGL
production comes from assets located in Alberta, British
Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Canadian Natural, which also has operations in the North Sea
and offshore West Africa, cut its total production forecast for
the year by 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to
802,000-861,000 boe/d.
The cut in production forecast was not because of the
wildfire, but because of the company's decision to shut-in some
uneconomic gas production, analysts told Reuters.
The company said it expects current-quarter production of
791,000-822,000 boe/d, well below the 844,531 boe/d it produced
in the three months ended March 31.
Net loss narrowed to C$105 million, or 10 Canadian cents per
share, in the first quarter, from C$252 million, or 23 Canadian
cents per share a year earlier.
Adjusted loss was 50 Canadian cents per share, lower than
analysts' average estimate of 57 Canadian cents, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 28.2 percent to C$2.18 billion, missing
analysts' expectations of C$2.23 billion.
Canadian Natural's Toronto-listed shares were marginally
down at C$35.59 in afternoon trading, its U.S-listed shares were
marginally lower at $27.69.
($1 = 1.2821 Canadian dollars)
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FACTBOX-Canada wildfire shutters oil sands plants, pipelines
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