OREANDA-NEWS.  Our workforce maintained its commitment to industry-leading safety and environmental performance. In addition, several noteworthy events occurred during the quarter, including initial production at our Kearl oil sands mining project and the decision to convert our Dartmouth refinery to a fuels terminal. We also managed significant planned maintenance at Cold Lake and the Strathcona refinery and our Calgary workforce successfully responded to the state of emergency during recent flooding, ensuring business continuity.

Imperial’s earnings in the second quarter were USD 327 million compared with USD 635 million for the same period in 2012. Included is a non-cash charge of USD 264 million associated with the Dartmouth decision.

Gross oil-equivalent production averaged 276,000 barrels a day, up 7,000 barrels a day and refinery throughput averaged 435,000 barrels a day, up 51,000 barrels a day from the same period last year, respectively. We estimate that volumes this quarter were reduced by 11,000 barrels a day and 40,000 barrels a day due to significant planned maintenance at Cold Lake and Strathcona, respectively.

Production of pipeline quality diluted bitumen from one of the three proprietary froth treatment trains at our world-class Kearl initial development began on April 26, 2013. Since that time, our focus has been on synchronizing facilities and working toward stable operations. The learnings from these initial efforts are being incorporated into the commissioning of subsequent trains to improve start-up efficiency for the two remaining trains of the initial development and the three trains associated with the Kearl expansion project.

Second quarter capital and exploration expenditures of USD 1.6 billion were primarily directed towards Upstream growth projects, including Kearl and Cold Lake expansions, which were 43 percent and 48 percent complete, respectively, as of June 30, 2013.

In June, Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil jointly contributed USD 500,000 to flood-relief efforts in southern Alberta. We also supplied fuel to affected markets without interruption, and donated Esso gas cards to the Red Cross and other response agencies. In addition, hundreds of our employees volunteered at company-sponsored relief efforts to help those in need.