Timing is everything when it comes to growing a business, and two of Canada’s largest oilsands producers just punctuated the point in a big way — boosting output before energy prices soared this spring.
“This is our time. We should be an energy superpower,” Cenovus Energy CEO Jon McKenzie said Wednesday during a first-quarter earnings call. “We need to take the right decisions to unlock investment and growth to the benefit of our economy and all Canadians.”
The question is where does the next wave of Canadian oil production growth come from — and how will it best get to market?
Cenovus and Suncor Energy released first-quarter results on Wednesday that showed the high-octane effect of more production and rising prices, as global oil markets have taken off since the war in Iran started.
Record Production and Profits
Calgary-based Cenovus reported record production of 972,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the first three months of the year. It’s up 54,000 boe per day from the same period last year. The company completed its $8.5-billion acquisition of MEG Energy last November, while it’s now drilling wells at the West White Rose project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, and at its Narrow Lakes thermal project in northern Alberta.
Suncor reported record first-quarter production hit 875,000 barrels per day (bpd), up 22,000 bpd from a year earlier.
“The timing is quite favourable for these companies to be hitting production levels like this,” said Michael Berger, a senior analyst at Enverus.
Profits for both companies jumped as oil prices topped US$100 a barrel in March following the war in the Middle East, which caused millions of barrels of production to be shut in across the region. Prices for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell Wednesday to close at US$95.08 a barrel amid speculation of a possible accord being reached between Iran and the United States.
Even with strong prices this year, Suncor CEO Rich Kruger isn’t about to alter the company’s long-term strategy, given the geopolitical factors rocking energy markets.
“We’ve got ups and downs in the cycle and we’ve seen those before … the fundamental question is: Does it reset, does it become a geopolitical premium?” Kruger told analysts on a call Wednesday. “The best companies over time don’t overreact to what could be short-term phenomena, either on the upside or the downside.”
Suncor reported net earnings of $2.1 billion during the period, up 24 per cent from the same time in 2025. Cenovus also saw strong first-quarter results, with production up 19 per cent from a year earlier, following the MEG takeover. Net earnings jumped more than 80 per cent to almost $1.6 billion.
Future Growth Outlook
In a note, analyst Menno Hulshof of TD Cowen pointed out that over the past few years, Cenovus “leaned into growth, while many others paused.” The company’s CEO reiterated the need for Canada to seize the moment and position itself as a global energy leader, emphasizing that strategic decisions now will shape the country’s economic future.
