Cenovus saw record oil sands production of 784 Mb/d in the second quarter, up 9 Mb/d compared to the first quarter, despite some planned downtime in Q2, according to the company’s quarterly report and conference call on July 29th. 2026 production guidance was increased by 25 Mboe/d, to between 970 Mboe/d and 1.01 MMboe/d.
Production at Christina Lake averaged a record 372 Mboe/d in Q2 (+13 Mb/d vs. Q1), with current volumes tracking even higher. At Sunrise, production was up over 10% vs. Q1, averaging 66 Mb/d in Q2, and more recently is often exceeding the 70 Mb/d target that Cenovus previously expected to hit sometime next year.
The second half of 2026 is expected to see production growth from Christina Lake, specifically at the Christina Lake North asset purchased with the MEG Energy acquisition, where volumes are expected to approach 125 Mb/d around year-end compared to 105-110 Mb/d in Q2, and at the White Rose field offshore Newfoundland, where first oil from the long-awaited West White Rose project is expected later in Q3. West White Rose is expected to gradually ramp up to as much as 80 Mb/d gross (45 Mb/d net to Cenovus), over the next two or three years (see image below).
CEO Jon McKenzie said that the recently signed trilateral Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Oil Sands Alliance and the federal and Alberta governments earlier in July “represents meaningful progress towards creating a competitive investment environment for Canada’s vast oil sands resource base”, but also noted that the MOU “still provides provisions for an uncompetitive carbon tax”.
There were no new growth projects announced with second quarter results, which is not a surprise, as the five members of the Oil Sands Alliance are working with governments to finalize definitive agreements guided by the MOU by November. That said, once again there was much discussion on the call about how Cenovus continues to try to test the limits of its existing oil sands facilities and pursue low-cost production additions wherever it can.
