The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Imperial Oil posted a drop in its third quarter profit on Friday due to lower commodity prices and refining margins, but also reported record quarterly production at its Kearl oil sands mine and launched a new share repurchase program. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that Imperial, majority-owned by Exxon Mobil, reported a net income of $1.6-billion or $2.76 a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compared with $2.03-billion or $3.24 a share, a year earlier after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Imperial's production averaged 423,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 430,000 boepd a year earlier. However the company's Kearl oil sands mine in Northern Alberta hit record quarterly production of 295,000 barrels per day (bpd) and chief executive officer Brad Corson told an earnings call Kearl could potentially reach 300,000 bpd annually. Industry analysts described the results as "mixed." Canadian oil companies have been focusing on returning cash to shareholders, and Imperial said it would launch a $1.5-billion substantial issuer bid in coming weeks, on top of $1.3-billion in share repurchases in the third quarter of 2023.