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April 26 (Reuters) - Canada's Imperial Oil saw higher profit in its first quarter on Friday as the integrated oil firm was helped by resilient demand for fuel amid tight supply conditions, but saw maintenance activities weighing on throughput volumes.
While analysts had expected a profit of C$2.03 per share, the Calgary-based company said its net profit stood at C$1.2 billion, or C$2.23 per share in the quarter ended March 31.
Refining margins have eased from sky-high levels in 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted crude supplies. Profits stabilized through last year on weaker economic activity and an increase in global refining capacity.
The company reported refinery throughput volumes of 407,000 bpd, which fell from 417,000 bpd in the same reporting period last year and was lower than the 415,000 bpd estimated by analysts, according to LSEG, due to maintenance activities.
Throughput is the amount of petroleum product that moves through a refinery in a particular period.
Imperial, which is majority-owned by energy major Exxon Mobil , said upstream production was 421,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter, up from 413,000 gross boepd last year, but less than analysts' expectation of 422.5 boepd, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava and Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))
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