UPDATE 1-Canada's Cenovus Energy reports quarterly profit on higher crude prices
(Adds details from earnings, background)
Oct 31 (Reuters) - Canadian oil producer Cenovus Energy Inc reported a quarterly profit on Thursday compared to a loss a year earlier, as it benefited from higher crude prices because of government-imposed production curbs and a tight leash on costs.
Canada's main oil-producing province, Alberta, ordered curtailments on oil production this year to deal with pipeline bottlenecks that had led to a glut in crude storage and record price discounts.
Cenovus, which has benefited from a smaller discount on Canadian oil versus U.S. oil, has been one of the most vocal supporters of the government intervention.
The company said average realized crude sales price was C$54.94 per barrel in the third quarter of 2019 compared with C$49.38 per barrel in the same period a year earlier, partially due to higher crude-by-rail volumes, which resulted in increased sales to the United States.
The Calgary-based company reported a net profit of C$187 million ($141.97 million), or 15 Canadian cents per share, for the third quarter, compared with a loss of C$242 million, or 20 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.
Total production fell 9.5% to 448,496 barrels of oil equivalent per day(boe/d) from 495,592 boe/d as the company stuck to the mandatory production curtailments.
($1 = 1.3172 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Shanti S Nair in Bengaluru and Nia Williams in Calgary; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
