Imperial Oil shares fall on lower profit; still little impact from Venezuelan situation, CEO says

By Amanda Stephenson and Pooja Menon

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Canadian oil producer Imperial Oil's IMO.TO share price fell Friday on lower fourth-quarter profit and production, but its CEO expressed confidence in the company's long-term ability to weather any shifts in crude flows that may occur due to the ongoing situation in Venezuela.

Imperial shares were down 4.5% as of mid-day as the market reacted to the company's year-over-year decline in earnings, which Imperial said was due to lower global oil prices in the quarter and wet October weather that caused production challenges at its Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta.

But CEO John Whelan said on a conference call that the issues at Kearl have since been resolved and Imperial remains confident in its plan to increase capital spending and upstream production in 2026.

He said the company, which is majority owned by U.S. oil and gas major Exxon Mobil XOM.N, has not been significantly impacted by the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3.

The situation in Venezuela has caused some anxiety in Canada, the world's fourth-largest oil producer. Trump has said the U.S. intends to control Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues indefinitely and has already lifted some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry to make it easier for U.S. companies to sell its crude oil.

Venezuela produces a very similar variety of heavy crude to Canada, and market fears that Venezuelan barrels could replace Canadian barrels in the U.S. Gulf Coast has led to a widening of the discount on Canadian heavy oil over the last month.

While many uncertainties around Venezuela remain, Whelan said, it will take a very long time before investment conditions in the country improve to the point that production levels can significantly increase.

He said the market's initial perception of what the Venezuela situation could mean to Canadian oil producers may have been an overreaction.

"I see a huge role, of course, for Canada when you think about global supply-demand balance — regardless of what happens with Venezuela," Whelan said.

Imperial announced in September that it would cut its workforce by about 20% by the end of 2027, part of a major restructuring that will eventually shutter most of its presence in the oil-and-gas city of Calgary.

That restructuring is under way and progressing according to plan, Whelan said Friday.

Imperial's upstream production for the quarter was 444,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), lower than 460,000 gross boepd a year earlier.

Net income fell to C$492 million ($364.31 million), or C$1.00 per share, in the quarter ended December 31 from C$1.23 billion, or C$2.37 per share, last year.

($1 = 1.3505 Canadian dollars)