16. Asset Impairments

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant decrease in global demand for crude oil and commodity prices. In response, the company announced plans to reduce capital and operating costs. As a result of these events, the company performed asset impairment tests on certain CGUs in its Oil Sands and Exploration and Production segments as at March 31, 2020 as the recoverable amounts of these CGUs were most sensitive to the combined reduction in crude oil prices and changes to their respective capital and operating plans. During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Fort Hills partners approved the phased restart of the second primary extraction train, which has restarted earlier than what was assumed in the first quarter impairment test. As such, the company performed an impairment reversal assessment as at December 31, 2020. As there is significant doubt on the future of the West White Rose (WWR) Project, the company also performed an impairment test for the White Rose CGU as at December 31, 2020. The impairment tests were performed using recoverable amounts based on the fair value less cost of disposal. An expected cash flow approach was used with the key assumptions discussed below (Level 3 fair value inputs):

Oil Sands

The company performed an impairment reversal assessment for the Fort Hills CGU using the following asset-specific assumptions at December 31, 2020:


•	Western Canadian Select (WCS) price forecast of US$32.00/bbl in 2021, US$41.15/bbl in 2022, US$47.50/bbl in 2023 and US$49.50/bbl in 2024, escalating at approximately 2% per year thereafter over the life of the project up to 2064, adjusted for asset-specific location and quality differentials;
•	the company's share of production averaging 74,000 bbls/d through 2022 while the Fort Hills Project operates on two primary extraction trains but at a reduced capacity, and then ranging from 97,000 to 105,000 bbls/d over the remaining life of the project;
•	cash operating costs averaging $25.50/bbl through 2022 while the Fort Hills Project operates on two primary extraction trains but at a reduced capacity, and then ranging from $19.00/bbl to $23.00/bbl thereafter as the project returns to full capacity over the remaining life of the project (expressed in real dollars). Cash operating costs reflect operating, selling and general expense adjusted for non-production costs, including share-based compensation, research costs, and excess power revenue;
•	foreign exchange rate of US$0.76 per one Canadian dollar in 2021, and US$0.80 per one Canadian dollar thereafter; and
•	risk-adjusted discount rate of 7.5% (after-tax).

Positive factors, including an increase to forecast production as a result of the restart of the second primary extraction train, improved the WCS price forecast in the next two years, and lower operating costs were offset by lower long-term prices and the negative impact from a strengthening Canadian dollar. The recoverable amount of the Fort Hills CGU was $5.7 billion as at December 31, 2020, which indicated that no impairment reversal was required.

The recoverable amount estimate is most sensitive to price and discount rate. A 5% average increase in price over the life of the project would have resulted in an impairment reversal amount of approximately $1.0 billion (after-tax) on the company's share of the Fort Hills assets. A 1% decrease in the discount rate would have resulted in an impairment reversal amount of approximately $0.9 billion (after-tax) on the company's share of the Fort Hills assets.

During the first quarter of 2020, the company recorded an impairment of $1.38 billion (net of taxes of $0.44 billion) on its share of the Fort Hills Project in the Oil Sands segment using the following asset-specific assumptions:


•	WCS price forecast of US$9.00/bbl for the remainder of 2020, US$13.60/bbl in 2021, US$32.00/bbl in 2022, US$51.55/bbl in 2023 and US$52.90/bbl in 2024, escalating at 2% per year thereafter over the life of the project up to 2061, adjusted for asset-specific location and quality differentials;
•	the company's share of production of 47,000 bbls/d while the Fort Hills Project operates on one primary extraction train for the remainder of 2020 through to 2021, and ramping up to two primary extraction trains during 2022, and then ranging from 96,000 to 106,000 bbls/d over the remaining life of the project;
•	cash operating costs averaging $32.00/bbl to $37.00/bbl while the Fort Hills Project operates on one primary extraction train for the remainder of 2020 through to 2021, and ranging from $22.00/bbl to $24.00/bbl thereafter, as the project returns to two primary extraction trains over the remaining life of the project (expressed in real dollars). Cash operating costs reflect operating, selling and general expense adjusted for non-production costs, including share-based compensation, research costs, and excess power revenue;
•	foreign exchange rate of US$0.76 per one Canadian dollar; and
•	risk-adjusted discount rate of 7.5% (after-tax).

The recoverable amount of the Fort Hills CGU was $6.4 billion as at March 31, 2020. The recoverable amount estimate is most sensitive to price and discount rate. A 5% average decrease in price over the life of the project would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $1.1 billion (after-tax) on the company's share of the Fort Hills assets. A 1% increase in the discount rate would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $1.1 billion (after-tax) on the company's share of the Fort Hills assets.

Exploration and Production

White Rose assets:

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the company reassessed the likelihood of completing the WWR Project. As a result of this reassessment, the company performed an impairment test of the White Rose CGU. While the base White Rose Project will continue to produce in 2021, the company has removed the reserves and forecast revenues for the WWR Project. This decision reduced planned production from the CGU and increased the expected closure costs relative to the assumptions used in the first quarter of 2020, with all other assumptions remaining relatively consistent. An after-tax impairment charge of $423 million (net of taxes of $136 million) was recognized and the White Rose CGU is fully impaired as at December 31, 2020.

During the first quarter of 2020, the company recorded an impairment of $137 million (net of taxes of $45 million) on its share of the White Rose assets in the Exploration and Production segment using the following asset-specific assumptions:


•	Brent price forecast of US$30.00/bbl for the remainder of 2020, US$35.00/bbl in 2021, US$50.00/bbl in 2022 and US$69.00/bbl in 2023, escalating at 2% per year thereafter over the life of the project to 2036 and adjusted for asset-specific location and quality differentials;
•	the company's share of production of approximately 9,800 bbls/d over the life of the project;
•	the company's share of future capital expenditures of $1.435 billion, including the WWR expansion; and
•	risk-adjusted discount rate of 9.0% (after-tax).

The recoverable amount of the White Rose CGU was $185 million as at March 31, 2020. The recoverable amount estimate was most sensitive to price and discount rate. A 5% average decrease in price over the life of the project would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $83 million (after-tax) on the company's share of the White Rose assets. A 1% increase in the discount rate would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $45 million (after-tax) on the company's share of the White Rose assets.

Terra Nova assets:

During the first quarter of 2020, the company recorded an impairment of $285 million (net of taxes of $93 million) on its share of the Terra Nova assets in the Exploration and Production segment using the following asset-specific assumptions:


•	Brent price forecast of US$30.00/bbl for the remainder of 2020, US$35.00/bbl in 2021, US$50.00/bbl in 2022 and US$69.00/bbl in 2023, escalating at 2% per year thereafter over the life of the project to 2031 and adjusted for asset-specific location and quality differentials;
•	the company's share of production of approximately 6,200 bbls/d over the life of the project, including the benefit of the asset life extension project; and
•	risk-adjusted discount rate of 9.0% (after-tax).

The recoverable amount of the Terra Nova CGU was $24 million as at March 31, 2020.

No indicators of impairment or reversals of impairment were identified as at December 31, 2020.

Asset Impairments in 2019

At December 31, 2019, the company performed an asset impairment test on its Fort Hills CGU in the Oil Sands segment due to a volatile crude oil price environment resulting in a decline in forecast long-term heavy crude oil prices. The company also performed an impairment test within the Exploration and Production segment as at December 31, 2019 due to an increase to forecast capital expenditures within the White Rose CGU. The impairment tests were performed using recoverable amounts based on the fair value less cost of disposal. An expected cash flow approach was used with the key assumptions discussed below (Level 3 fair value inputs):

Oil Sands

As a result of the impairment test, the company recorded an impairment of $2.80 billion (net of taxes of $0.91 billion) on its share of the Fort Hills Project in the Oil Sands segment using the following asset-specific assumptions:


•	WCS price forecast of US$40.75/bbl in 2020, US$45.60/bbl in 2021, US$49.65/bbl in 2022, US$51.55/bbl in 2023 and US$52.90/bbl in 2024, escalating at 2% per year thereafter over the life of the project up to 2060, adjusted for asset-specific location and quality differentials;
•	the company's share of production ranging from 96,000 to 106,000 bbls/d over the life of the project;
•	cash operating costs averaging $22/bbl to $24/bbl over the life of the project (expressed in real dollars), reflects operating, selling and general expense adjusted for non-production costs including share-based compensation, research costs, and excess power revenue; and
•	risk-adjusted discount rate of 7.5% (after-tax).

The recoverable amount of the Fort Hills CGU was $7.7 billion as at December 31, 2019, which also included the cost of carbon compliance in accordance with the provincial and federal regulations which started at $30/tonne in 2020, reached $50/tonne by 2022 and escalated at the rate of inflation thereafter. The estimate of the recoverable amount was most sensitive to the WCS price forecast and discount rate. A 5% decrease in price would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $1.2 billion (after-tax) on the company's share of the Fort Hills assets. A 1% increase in the discount rate would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $900 million (after-tax) on the company's share of the Fort Hills assets.

Exploration and Production

As a result of the impairment test, the company recorded impairment of $393 million (net of taxes of $128 million) on its share of the White Rose assets in the Exploration and Production segment using the following asset-specific assumptions:


•	Brent price forecast of US$65/bbl in 2020, escalating at 2% per year thereafter over the life of the project up to 2036 and adjusted for asset-specific location and quality differentials;
•	the company's share of production of approximately 8,700 bbls/d over the life of the project;
•	the company's share of future capital expenditures of $1.4 billion, including the West White Rose expansion; and
•	risk-adjusted discount rate of 9.0% (after-tax).

The recoverable amount of the White Rose CGU was $360 million as at December 31, 2019, which also included the cost of carbon compliance in accordance with the provincial and federal regulations which started at $30/tonne in 2020, reached $50/tonne by 2022 and escalated at the rate of inflation thereafter. The estimate of the recoverable amount was most sensitive to the Brent price forecast and discount rate. A 5% decrease in price would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $85 million (after-tax) on the company's share of the White Rose assets. A 1% increase in the discount rate would have resulted in an increase to the impairment charge of approximately $35 million (after-tax) on the company's share of the White Rose assets.