CALGARY – Vermilion Energy Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit of $344.6 million compared with a loss of $57.7 million a year earlier, helped by higher oil and natural gas prices.

The energy company, which suspended its dividend at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, also announced it would pay a quarterly dividend of six cents per share.

Vermilion says its profit for the final quarter 2021 amounted to $2.12 per share, up from a loss of 36 cents per share in the last three months of 2020.

Petroleum and natural gas sales totalled $765.9 million, up from $316.2 million a year earlier.

Production in the quarter averaged 84,417 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 87,848 in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In November, Vermilion announced a deal to increase its interest in its Corrib project in Ireland with the purchase of an additional 36.5 per cent stake for $600 million. The company will hold a 56.5 per cent stake in the natural gas project once the deal closes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:VET)