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Feb 2 (Reuters) - Imperial Oil Ltd IMO.TO , Canada's No.2
integrated oil producer and refiner, reported a
lower-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by a prolonged slump
in crude oil prices.
Imperial, like most its peers, endured a torrid fourth
quarter in which global oil prices continued to slide.
Exxon Mobil Corp (N:XOM) XOM.N , which owns 69.6 percent of
Imperial, also reported a 58 percent drop in quarterly profit on
Tuesday.
Imperial said gross production averaged 400,000 barrels of
oil equivalent per day, up from 315,000 a year earlier.
The company sold its bitumen from oil sands for an average
price of C$22.82 per barrel, compared with C$52.37 per barrel a
year earlier.
Synthetic crude selling prices fell 31.1 percent to an
average of C$56.56 per barrel, the company said.
Imperial said net income fell to C$102 million ($72.9
million), or 12 Canadian cents per share, in the fourth quarter
ended Dec. 31, from C$671 million, or 79 Canadian cents per
share, a year earlier.
Analysts had expected a profit of 30 Canadian cents per
share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The Calgary-based company's revenue fell 22.5 percent to
C$6.23 billion.
($1 = C$1.40)