The Esso brand of more than 2,000 service stations across Canada and a trio of jumbo refineries in Ontario and Alberta helped put a tiger in Imperial Oil Ltd.’s financial tank during the first six months of this year.

The ExxonMobil subsidiary’s downstream side reported first-half 2021 revenue of C$11.1 billion ($8.9 billion) from refined product sales of 429,000 b/d, up from C$8.1 billion ($6.5 billion) for 409,000 b/d in the same period last year.

“Through 2021, demand for petroleum and petrochemical products has continued to improve leading to stronger prices and margins across all segments” as hardships inflicted on Canadian consumers by the Covid-19 virus pandemic fade, Imperial reported.

“Imperial has significant momentum entering the second half of the...