Imperial Oil's 3rd-quarter profit cut in half to $479M

Imperial Oil says its profit for the third quarter fell to $479 million, down 49 per cent from last year as a result of the drop in global crude oil prices.

The Calgary-based company says its net income for the threemonths ending Sept. 30 was 56 cents per share, down from $1.10 or$936 million in the third quarter of 2014.

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Offsetting the price declines was a 26 per cent increase inproduction volumes, which averaged the equivalent of 385,000 barrelsper day in the third quarter the highest in more than a decade.

Imperial also says its capital and exploration spending wasreduced to $1.142 million, down $292 million from a year before.

The company's upstream arm, which includes exploration andproduction, recorded a $52 million net loss a decline from the$532 million in profits recorded a year earlier.

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Imperial's downstream arm had $454 million in net income, up $111million from a year earlier, mainly because of the favourable impactof a weaker Canadian dollar.

The chemical business had a record high quarterly profit of $78million, up from $66 million a year earlier.