Canadian Natural to spend less on Horizon oilsands in 2017, more on exploration

Canadian Natural Resourcesis planning to complete the last major component of its Horizon oilsands expansion by the end of next year as part of a $3.9-billion capital spending program.

The Calgary-based oil and gas company says the 2017 capital budget which is marginally higher overall than this year's forecasted spending will allocate about $1.71 billion to Horizon, down from $2.74 billion forecast for this year.

However, spending on exploration and production projects will rise by $465 million, to $1.79 billion, and spending on thermal oilsands projects apart from Horizon will rise by $195 million to $365 million.

The company says next year's capital spending program will be well within the company's ability to generate cash from operations.

It says there's room to increase exploration and production even further or, alternatively, to reduce the capital program by about $900 million if commodity prices or economic conditions dictate.

Canadian Natural estimates it will generate between $2.6 billion and $3 billion of free cash flow, before paying US$1.1 billion in dividends at the current rate, and it will take a balanced approach to allocating available funds.

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