Oil and gas firm Canadian Natural Resources CNQ-T beat fourth-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, helped by record production.

The company’s overall production was up 9.6 per cent to 1.42 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from last year.

Total U.S. oil demand rose 3.4 per cent in October versus the prior year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)data, benefiting Canadian firms as the U.S. is the largest importer of the country’s oil and gas.

The Calgary-based company’s quarterly production of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) was at 1.05 million of barrels per day (bbl/d), an 11 per cent growth compared with a year earlier.

The oil and gas producer also increased its quarterly dividend by 5 per cent to $1.05 per share.

The company reported an adjusted profit of $2.34 per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.15 per share, according to LSEG data.

The Canadian firm’s reported profit jumped nearly 73 per cent to $2.63-billion in the quarter, compared with the previous year.