Petro-Canada's first-quarter profits almost tripled as production from its North Sea project came on stream and refining margins grew.
The country's third-biggest integrated oil company said Tuesday it made $590 million in Q1, versus the $206 million it made in the same period last year.
The profit handily beat analysts' forecasts and led to a jump in Petro-Canada's stock price.
Shares rose $1.95 to $48.95 on the TSX.
Petro-Canada said its first-quarter production averaged 405,000 barrels a day, up from 355,000 barrels in Q1 of 2006.
"We started the year off with a good quarter, especially in the downstream with strong continent-wide refining margins and on the East Coast with solid production from Terra Nova and White Rose," Petro-Canada CEO Ron Brenneman said in an analyst conference call.
The company expects 2007 production to be 15 per cent higher than the previous year's.
Its huge Buzzard field in the North Sea is projected to ramp up to full production by the middle of the year.
The U.S. government deliberately misrepresented Pat Tillman's death as a heroic battle with the enemy instead of a friendly fire incident, his brother charges.
Russians began paying their respects Tuesday to former president Boris Yeltsin, who led their country out of the collapse of the Soviet Union into a turbulent post-Communist era. U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday he is prepared to veto a war spending bill proposed by Congress because it includes a timetable to pull American troops out of Iraq.
A Liberal motion that would ensure Canada ends its combat operations in southern Afghanistan by February 2009 will be voted upon on Tuesday. Armed with extra resources and a better forecast, the Canadian Coast Guard has been able to remove a couple of longliners off its lengthy list of vessels stuck in heavy ice off Newfoundland's northeast coast. Ongoing research into the effects of climate change off Nova Scotia could be in trouble because of uncertainty over federal funding. Eating a single high-fat meal can cause a spike in blood pressure, researchers in Calgary say, a finding that suggests another way fat consumption may lead to heart damage. The Ontario government is spending more than $103 million to help researchers gain the tools they need, such as laboratory space, equipment and software, Deputy Premier George Smitherman said Tuesday. A restaurant worker in the northern B.C. community of Vanderhoof has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, prompting the testing of dozens of other people.
The U.S. cable network that popularized "where are they now?" celebrity exposés and red carpet reporting by Joan Rivers is heading north of the border.
For the second consecutive year, The Walrus has dominated the nominee list for the upcoming National Magazine Awards, which celebrate their 30th anniversary this year. CBS Radio has suspended two New York City shock jocks after they broadcast a racially charged prank call to a Chinese restaurant. NASA released the first three-dimensional images of the sun Monday, saying the photos taken from twin spacecraft may lead to better predictions of solar eruptions that can affect communications and power lines on Earth. Yahoo plans to offer a free service providing lyrics to hundreds of thousands of popular songs, by artists ranging from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to the Arctic Monkeys. A dispute between social networking website MySpace and photo and video-sharing website Photobucket has apparently ended, allowing users of both services to once again display content on their MySpace pages. A 60-year-old Vancouver woman who suffered harassment by a collection agency has been awarded $2,000 by the B.C. Supreme Court.
Six years after Parliament passed a motion requiring labels on alcohol warning of the dangers of drinking while pregnant, former NDP health critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis says she is frustrated by government inaction. Vancouver's mayor has floated the idea of having free admission to public galleries and museums during the Christmas holidays. Sam Mitchell of the Toronto Raptors was named the NBA's coach of the year on Tuesday. The Toronto Raptors look to even their Eastern Conference quarter-final series when they host the New Jersey Nets Tuesday night. A series sweep against Boston on Tuesday could be in the cards if the Jays' bats can keep producing and Roy Halladay is his usual solid self on the mound.
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