Feb 16 (Reuters) – Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) posted a net profit for the fourth quarter on Thursday, compared with a loss last year, and said Chief Operating Officer Jon McKenzie would become its president and chief executive officer.

McKenzie, who was the finance chief of Husky Energy from 2015 to 2018, joined Cenovus in 2018 as its chief financial officer.

Outgoing CEO Alex Pourbaix will shift to the role of executive chair after the company’s annual general meeting on April 26, where he will be nominated for election to the board.

Cenovus’s total revenue rose nearly 3% to C$14.1 billion ($10.53 billion) in the fourth quarter, helped by an increase in downstream operating margins.

U.S. oil prices pulled back from a multi-year high in the quarter, but were trading 9% higher than the year-ago level as Western sanctions against major energy producer Russia and a decision by OPEC+ to cut output tightened global supply.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company reported a profit of C$784 million, or 39 Canadian cents, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of C$408 million, or 21 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

Its total upstream production stood at 806,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down from 825,300 boepd a year earlier. Downstream production rose to 473,500 barrels per day (bpd) from 469,900 bpd last year.

($1 = 1.3385 Canadian dollars)

Reporting by Arshreet Singh; Editing by Maju Samuel and Devika Syamnath

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