Oil sands producer Cenovus Energy said that lower commodity prices and a widening gap between Canadian and US crude prices tooka bite out of its fourth-quarter earnings, although it sees differentials trending in a positive direction going forward. The Calgary-based company reported Thursday that its upstream operating margin fell from C$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) in the thirdquarter to C$2.2 billion in the October-December period. Cenovus attributed the decline to "lower Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices and a wider light-heavy crude differential"in the fourth quarter. Those factors also led to a nearly C$70 million improvement in the company's downstream margin as itsrefi neries were able to take advantage of cheaper feedstocks.
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