Canada's Imperial Oil beat quarterly profit as earnings doubled on stronger crude prices

July 31 (Reuters) - Canadian oil producer Imperial Oil IMO.TO beat quarterly profit estimate on Friday, as its earnings doubled on higher crude prices and stronger refining margins, offsetting lower oil-sands production and planned refinery maintenance.

Higher oil prices, buoyed by Middle East supply fears after months of Israel-Iran strikes, have handed oil sands companies a windfall, while also bolstering Canada's pitch as a safer, chokepoint-free alternative to Gulf crude.

Industry refining margins improved in the second quarter of 2026, impacted by global product supply disruptions.

The company said its total upstream production was 414,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter, below 427,000 boepd from a year earlier, due to lower volumes at Kearl and Syncrude.

Imperial has updated its refinery throughput and refinery utilization outlook ranges for 2026 from 395,000 - 405,000 barrels per day and 91% - 93% utilization to 370,000 - 380,000 barrels per day and 85% - 88% utilization.

The company's refinery quarterly throughput averaged at 331,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter from 376,000 bpd a year earlier, due to planned turnaround work at the Strathcona refinery and unplanned downtime.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company posted an adjusted profit of C$4.52 per share for the quarter ended June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of C$4.13 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 1.4025 Canadian dollars)