Imperial Oil reports $1.15B Q4 loss due to a writedown of unconventional assets

CALGARY – Imperial Oil Ltd. reported a loss of $1.15 billion for its fourth-quarter as it took a $1.17-billion non-cash charge related to Canadian unconventional natural gas assets it doesn’t think it will ever develop.

The company says the loss amounted to $1.56 per diluted share for the quarter compared with a profit of $271 million or 36 cents per share a year earlier.

Total revenue and other income amounted to $6.03 billion, down from $8.12 billion.

Imperial warned in December that it expected to take a non-cash charge of between $900 million and $1.2 billion, saying it had reassessed the long-term development plans of its unconventional natural gas portfolio in Alberta and no longer plans to develop a “significant portion” of those assets.