Calgary-based Imperial Oil Ltd. returned to profitability during the first three months of 2021, lifted by higher commodity prices and improved operations.

President Brad Corson, who discussed the results during a conference call with his management team, attributed the first quarter gains to “decisive actions to weather the economic storm throughout 2020, including making fundamental improvements to cost structure and continuing to progress key projects to ensure the company was well positioned to take full advantage of market conditions as they began to improve.”

In the past year, he said, “we have emphasized a priority that we were placing on making sure that we remained well positioned for the eventual recovery as we were taking steps to respond to the business...