(Image via Parkland Fuel Corporation.)
Every business has had to adjust drastically because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic outbreak and though we don’t know if it is easing any time soon, companies have pivoted their plans and are finally “getting back to work” under the new parameters this virus has established.
Calgary-based company
Parkland Fuel Corporation (TSX: PKI) stated this week that it is close to finishing maintenance work at its Burnaby, BC refinery.
In
a news update for investors, PKI noted that it has begun the start-up sequence for the facility and has almost completed the required work for the 2020 Burnaby refinery turnaround.
This should come as good news for people invested into oil and gas who are worried about both the ongoing oil war between Russia and OPEC, as well as the ongoing struggles related to operations enduring the spread of the coronavirus.
Parkland added that, accounting for COVID-19 safety measures, where the company was required to change processes and procedures in response to Provincial health authority guidelines, it should reach full operational capability within approximately two weeks.
Planning around COVID-19 responses is “the new normal” for all businesses and despite this imminent fortnightly timeline, the company admitted that it had to decrease the number of staff on site and lower productivity.
In response to the economic uncertainty surrounding the impact of this pandemic, Parkland cut its capital spending budget by more than half (52%) in March 2020. The company was forced to reduce its 2020 Capital Program by $300 million to
$275 million (+/- 5%) and slashed its executive salaries.
While it’s too soon to call this a return to normal for this company, it is a sign that it has taken the COVID-19 damage on the chin and adjusted its business plan to keep plugging away. Its stock price saw some positive movement after the refinery update and shows the beginning of what could be an upward trajectory since the deep wounds from just a few weeks ago.
(PKI Stock chart – Oct 2019 – Apr 2020.)
An independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products, Parkland Fuel Corp. sells fuel through more than 2,600 service stations throughout Canada and in the United States and Caribbean.
Heavy hitters in Canadian oil have also had to
cut back capital spending and suspend projects, but this is a sign that even under reduced operating capacity, things in the industry will forge onward. Do corporate updates on progress like this give you some renewed confidence about the energy sector? Let us know in the comments below.
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