Canadian Natural says it has no plans to reduce staff after reporting a $405 million dollar second quarter loss. The oil and gas company says provincial tax increase of 20 percent, from 10% t0 12%, is to blame for $405 million second quarter loss.
Canadian Natural released the following statement to Country 99:
- Canadian Natural oil production was strong in Q2 2015, and we expect to deliver annual oil production despite the forest fire impact on second quarter oil production.
- Canadian Natural incurred a net loss of $405 million in Q2 2015 largely driven by the changes in corporate income tax rates. Accounting rules guide when and how to report changes to income tax liabilities. In this case, the change in corporate tax rates from 10% to 12% has resulted in a $579 million charge or increase to Canadian Natural’s future income tax liability. The $579 million is booked against earnings in Q2 2015 for accounting purposes, but will result in $579 million of future cash flows being transferred to the Government as income from our longer life assets is realized.
- Canadian Natural is built to weather commodity price cycles given our large, diverse asset base of which our Primrose and Wolf Lake Operations are a key component. Our effective and efficient operations help us control costs (Operating and Capital) and generate cash flow in low price environments. As reported in our earnings release, Canadian Natural has achieved strong operating cost reductions across our operations. Our staff will continue to maintain operations as well as effectively and efficiently deliver on the plans we have for 2015 as well as prepare for projects beyond 2015. We do not have plans to reduce staff.