Dividend "At The Discretion of the Board"Some people on this BB seem to be confused. EVERY common share dividend of EVERY company is "at the discretion of the Board". This is standard language when referring to a company's common share dividend policy even if the company has been paying one for decades. The Board of any company can cut or even eliminate a common share dividend anytime they wish.
Having said that, if a company is paying X as a regular dividend, the market expects them to continue to do so even though they know the company is not obligated to continue to pay it. In other words, don't raise a regular dividend unless you are confident you can maintain it.
Some of these O&G E&P companies still don't get it. You are in a volatile industry where revenues can change signficiantly from one quarter to the next, so pay out a modest regular dividend or increase, then use special dividends as bonuses to shareholders during good times in the sector as special dividends are viewed as bonuses, not expected payouts.
If I had to pick one O&G E&P company in which I had the most trust in terms of maintaining their regular dividend, it would be CNQ as they have such a large portfolio of long-life, low-decline assets and rock bottom costs per unit that they could likely maintain their regular dividend (which they tend to increase each year) in almost any bad scenario.
Finally, though each dividend paid out is officially approved by the Board of Directors, the CEO and CFO have the clearest, most detailed picture of the financial position of the company and its ability to pay a given regular dividend, so I think it's really more on those two individuals than the BOD re. how much if any dividend should be paid or increased. Thus, I suspect it was Jeff and/or Bruno's idea to boost the dividend to this level, and they convinced the BOD to OK it.