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CALGARY — Imperial Oil Ltd. posted record quarterly earnings of nearly $2.5 billion in the third quarter as higher commodity prices and stronger downstream performance boosted results.
The Calgary-based company reported net income of $2.454 billion, or $5.11 per diluted share, up from $539 million, or $1.07 per share, in the same quarter last year.
Earnings were also higher than the $2.19 billion reported in the second quarter of 2026.
Imperial said the improvement was driven primarily by higher commodity prices and stronger downstream volumes.
Its downstream business posted record quarterly earnings of $1.555 billion, compared with $444 million a year earlier, while upstream earnings rose to $941 million from $728 million.
Cash flow from operating activities reached $3.228 billion during the quarter, up from $1.798 billion a year earlier. Imperial ended September with about $2.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
Chairman, president and CEO John Whelan said the company’s integrated operations continued to produce strong financial results across its businesses.
Imperial returned more than $2.5 billion to shareholders during the quarter, including $420 million in dividends and about $2.09 billion in share repurchases.
The company also declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 87 cents per share.
Imperial said it expects to complete the remaining purchases permitted under its accelerated normal course issuer bid before the end of the year and indicated additional surplus cash could be returned to shareholders in 2027.
Capital and exploration spending totalled $668 million in the quarter, up from $505 million during the same period in 2025.
For the first nine months of the year, spending reached $1.677 billion, compared with $1.376 billion a year earlier.
Upstream accounted for the majority of third-quarter capital spending at $514 million, while downstream spending totalled $124 million.
Imperial did not announce a new overall capital budget in the quarterly release, but said work is continuing on projects intended to improve efficiency and increase throughput.
At its Strathcona refinery, the company is working to improve rail logistics to support higher crude runs and continued growth in canola throughput for its renewable diesel facility.
Imperial expects that work to improve refinery capacity utilization by year-end.
The Strathcona renewable diesel facility also recorded its highest canola throughput during the quarter and delivered what Imperial described as strong financial performance.
Overall upstream production averaged 418,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day during the quarter, down from 462,000 a year earlier.
Kearl produced 282,000 barrels per day gross, including 200,000 barrels per day representing Imperial’s share. Production was affected by a third-party pipeline outage that forced the operation to shut down for several days.
Cold Lake averaged 139,000 barrels per day, while Imperial’s share of Syncrude production averaged 70,000 barrels per day. Both operations were affected by planned turnaround work.
Imperial has lowered its 2026 Kearl production target to 280,000 barrels per day gross, or 199,000 barrels per day representing its share, because of the impact of third-party events during the year.
Despite the lower production volumes, higher oil prices contributed significantly to earnings.
Imperial realized an average of $92.16 per barrel for bitumen during the quarter, up from $68.22 a year earlier, while synthetic crude realizations rose to $124.83 from $91.12.
For the first nine months of 2026, Imperial has earned $5.584 billion, more than double the $2.776 billion reported during the same period last year.
Imperial is the first of several major oilsands producers reporting third-quarter results over the coming days. Suncor Energy is scheduled to release its third-quarter results Nov. 3, followed by Canadian Natural Resources on Nov. 5.
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