RE:RE:Teal Linde expects SU to increase its dividendliljj: SU is currently creating about a billion dollars per month of free cash flow (after paying for CAPEX and the dividend). A further investment in Terra Nova will only require a few days of cash flow from operations.
SU may have already bought its entire allotment of 44 mm shares (or will likely be very close to it by the end of June) under the existing NCIB.
Unless SU requests and receives permission to do another NCIB, the company is just dripping in cash, the company needs to do something with the cash. The E&P industry pretty much universally returning capital to investors (via dividends or share buy backs) and SU has indicated it will do the same.
Mgmt indicated in early February that they didn't intend to increase the dividend this year. However, their statement was based upon $55 WTI. With WTI now over $70, the company is generating about $400mm more cash flow every month than they expected. That means they company could double the dividend and cover the additional cost in just 4 months.
Fuel prices ain't going down anytime soon. Summer driving season is here and in the fall, the kids will be back in school (36,000 yellow buses in Canada) plus people will have to work as the well paid CER babysitting jobs will be over. All those schools and offices will have to be heated.
I have no idea if SU will increase its dividend for Q2 but they have to do something with the windfall.