Statistics Canada says operating profits in the oil and gas extraction and support activities industry declined $674 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, going from an operating profit of $276 million in the third quarter, to an operating loss of $398 million in the fourth quarter.

“This decrease was attributable to a decline in oil prices and a widening of the light-heavy oil differential,” said the federal agency in a release on Tuesday.

It said Canadian corporations earned $105.2 billion in operating profit in the fourth quarter, down $4.3 billion or 3.9 per cent from the third quarter but 8.7 per cent higher than the fourth quarter of 2017.

“In the non-financial industries, operating profit decreased $1.0 billion (-1.5 per cent) from the third quarter to $68.9 billion in the fourth quarter. Overall, operating profit was down in eight of 17 non-financial industries. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2017, operating profit for Canadian non-financial enterprises increased 2.1 per cent,” said StatsCan.

It said operating profits for the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry decreased in the fourth quarter, down $290 million (-15.5 per cent) from the third quarter. The main driver for this decrease was the financial performance of licensed producers of cannabis, which are now included in the results for the industry.

“Operating profit for manufacturing industries edged down $24 million (-0.2 per cent) from the third quarter to $15.5 billion in the fourth quarter, as four of 13 industries reported decreases. Operating profit for petroleum and coal products manufacturing decreased in the fourth quarter, down $412 million (-13.5 per cent) from the third quarter due to lower oil prices.”

– Mario Toneguzzi for Calgary’s Business

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