Cenovus, a Canadian company, reports record profits after acquiring MEG.

The Canadian oil and gas producer, Cenovus Energy, posted a record-breaking first quarter profit on Wednesday. This was largely due to higher benchmark crude oil prices.

Cenovus acquired MEG in the past year, adding Christina Lake oil sands assets into its portfolio. This increased production and strengthened Cenovus’ position as Canada's leading heavy oil producer.

The company reported that total upstream production increased to a record 972,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter. This is compared to 818,900 boepd one year ago.

Cenovus' total downstream crude production was 458.500 barrels per a day (bpd), down from 665.400 bpd one year earlier, but it achieved a crude unit utilization rate of 97%.

Cenovus’ board approved an increase of 10% in its quarterly base dividend, to 22 Canadian cents per share.

Calgary-based company's earnings for the quarter ended March 31 rose from C$859 million, or 47 Canadian cents, per share, to C$1,57 billion ($1.14billion), or 83 Canadian cents.

(source: Reuters)