Imperial Oil Posts Drop In Q4 Profit

reported a drop in its fourth-quarter profit. Imperial Oil's quarterly net income slipped to C$671 million ($529 million), or 79 Canadian cents a share, compared to C$1.06 billion, or C$1.24 a share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue declined 4% to C$8.03 billion. Upstream net income in the quarter declined to $218 million from $411 million, while downstream net income slipped $228 million versus the year-ago period to $397 million. For the fourth quarter, production slipped 14,000 barrels to 315,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day. Petroleum product sales rose 19,000 barrels to 480,000 barrels per day, while chemical earnings gained $17 million year-over-year to $63 million. As of December 31, 2014, Imperial Oil's cash balance was $215 million, compared to $272 million at the end of 2013. Capital and exploration expenditures totaled $1,588 million in the quarter. Imperial Oil shares closed at $37.11 on Friday.