Canada's Cenovus Energy Inc on Thursday forecast higher production and spending for 2021 after its blockbuster purchase of rival Husky Energy, expecting to benefit from a rebound in fuel demand from a slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cenovus agreed to buy rival Husky last year to create Canada's No. 3 oil and gas producer, as historically low oil demand and prices forced the industry to consolidate.
Cenovus said it expects to achieve cost savings of nearly C$1 billion this year from the merger through steps including cutting 20% to 25% of the combined company's workforce.
The company said it plans to invest between C$2.3 billion ($1.79 billion) and C$2.7 billion, compared with its 2020 spending forecast of C$750 million to C$850 million.
The Calgary-based energy company expects total production for the year to be between 730,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and 780,000 boepd, much higher than its 2020 production forecast of 432,000 boepd to 486,000 boepd.
($1 = 1.2853 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shinjini Ganguli)