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Critical Accounting Judgments, Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty and Recent Development | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
Disclosure Of Accounting Judgements And Estimates [Abstract] |
Critical Accounting Judgments and Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty | 4. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING JUDGMENTS AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY The timely preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements in accordance with IFRS requires that Management make estimates and assumptions, and use judgment regarding the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Such estimates primarily relate to unsettled transactions and events as of the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements. The estimated fair value of financial assets and liabilities, by their very nature, are subject to measurement uncertainty. Accordingly, actual results may differ from estimated amounts as future confirming events occur. A) Critical Judgments in Applying Accounting Policies Critical judgments are those judgments made by Management in the process of applying accounting policies that have the most significant effect on the amounts recorded in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. Joint Arrangements The classification of a joint arrangement as either a joint operation or a joint venture requires judgment. Cenovus holds a 50 percent interest in WRB, a jointly controlled entity. It was determined that Cenovus has the rights to the assets and obligations for the liabilities of WRB. As a result, the joint arrangement is classified as a joint operation and the Company’s share of the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses are recorded in the Consolidated Financial Statements. In determining the classification of its joint arrangements under IFRS 11, “Joint Arrangements”, the Company considered the following:
• | The intention of the joint arrangement was to form an integrated North American heavy oil business. The integrated business was structured, initially on a tax neutral basis, through two partnerships due to the assets residing in different tax jurisdictions. Partnerships are “flow-through” entities which have a limited life.
• | The partnership agreements require the partners (Cenovus and Phillips 66 or respective subsidiaries) to make contributions if funds are insufficient to meet the obligations or liabilities of the partnerships. The past and future development of WRB is dependent on funding from the partners by way of partnership notes payable and loans.
• | The WRB working interest relationship is operated whereby the operating partner takes product on behalf of the participants and is modified to account for the operating environment of the refining business.
• | Phillips 66, as the operator, either directly or through wholly-owned subsidiaries, provide marketing services, purchase necessary feedstock, and arrange for transportation and storage on the partners’ behalf as the agreements prohibit the partnership from undertaking these roles themselves. In addition, the partnership does not have employees and, as such, are not capable of performing these roles.
• | In the arrangement, output is taken by the partners, indicating that the partners have the rights to the economic benefits of the assets and the obligation for funding the liabilities of the arrangement.
Exploration and Evaluation Assets The application of the Company’s accounting policy for E&E expenditures requires judgment in determining whether it is likely that future economic benefit exists when activities have not reached a stage where technical feasibility and commercial viability can be reasonably determined. Factors such as drilling results, future capital programs, future operating expenses, as well as estimated reserves and resources are considered. In addition, Management uses judgment to determine when E&E assets are reclassified to PP&E. In making this determination, various factors are considered, including the existence of reserves, and whether the appropriate approvals have been received from regulatory bodies and the Company’s internal approval process. Identification of Cash-Generating Units CGUs are defined as the lowest level of integrated assets for which there are separately identifiable cash flows that are largely independent of cash flows from other assets or groups of assets. The classification of assets and allocation of corporate assets into CGUs requires significant judgment and interpretation. Factors considered in the classification include the integration between assets, shared infrastructures, the existence of common sales points, geography, geologic structure, and the manner in which Management monitors and makes decisions about its operations. The recoverability of the Company’s upstream, refining, crude-by-rail, railcars, storage tanks and corporate assets are assessed at the CGU level. As such, the determination of a CGU could have a significant impact on impairment losses and reversals. Determining the Lease Term In determining the lease term, Management considers all facts and circumstances that create an economic incentive to exercise an extension option, or not exercise a termination option. The assessment is reviewed if a significant event or a significant change in circumstances occurs which affects this assessment. B) Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty Critical accounting estimates are those estimates that require Management to make particularly subjective or complex judgments about matters that are inherently uncertain. Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis and any revisions to accounting estimates are recorded in the period in which the estimates are revised. The following are the key assumptions about the future and other key sources of estimation at the end of the reporting period that, if changed, could result in a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities within the next financial year. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic following the emergence and rapid spread of a novel strain of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”). The outbreak and subsequent measures intended to limit the pandemic contributed to significant declines and volatility in financial markets. The pandemic has adversely impacted global commercial activity, including significantly reducing worldwide demand for crude oil. The full extent of the impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s operations and future financial performance is currently unknown. It will depend on future developments that are uncertain and unpredictable, including the duration and spread of COVID-19, its continued impact on capital and financial markets on a macro-scale and any new information that may emerge concerning the severity of the virus. These uncertainties may persist beyond when it is determined how to contain the virus or treat its impact. The outbreak presents uncertainty and risk with respect to the Company, its performance, and estimates and assumptions used by Management in the preparation of its financial results. The outbreak and current market conditions have increased the complexity of estimates and assumptions used to prepare the annual Consolidated Financial Statements, particularly related to recoverable amounts. In addition, the evolving worldwide demand for energy and global advancement of alternative sources of energy that are not sourced from fossil fuels could result in a change in assumptions used in determining the recoverable amount and could affect the carrying value of the related assets. The timing in which global energy markets transition from carbon-based sources to alternative energy is highly uncertain. Changes to assumptions could result in a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities within the next financial year. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Reserves There are a number of inherent uncertainties associated with estimating crude oil and natural gas reserves. Reserves estimates are dependent upon variables including the recoverable quantities of hydrocarbons, the cost of the development of the required infrastructure to recover the hydrocarbons, production costs, estimated selling price of the hydrocarbons produced, royalty payments and taxes. Changes in these variables could significantly impact the reserves estimates which would affect the impairment test recoverable amount and DD&A expense of the Company’s crude oil and natural gas assets in the Oil Sands and Conventional segments. The Company’s reserves are evaluated annually and reported to the Company by its IQREs. Recoverable Amounts Determining the recoverable amount of a CGU or an individual asset requires the use of estimates and assumptions, which are subject to change as new information becomes available. For the Company’s upstream assets, these estimates include forward commodity prices, expected production volumes, quantity of reserves and resources, discount rates, future development and operating expenses. Recoverable amounts for the Company’s refining assets, crude-by-rail terminal and related ROU assets use assumptions such as throughput, forward commodity prices, market crack spreads, operating expenses, transportation capacity, future capital expenditures, supply and demand conditions and the terminal values used. Recoverable amounts for the Company’s real estate ROU assets use assumptions such as real estate market conditions which includes market vacancy rates and sublease market conditions, price per square footage, real estate space availability and borrowing costs. Changes in assumptions used in determining the recoverable amount could affect the carrying value of the related assets. Decommissioning Costs Provisions are recorded for the future decommissioning and restoration of the Company’s upstream assets, refining assets and crude-by-rail terminal at the end of their economic lives. Management uses judgment to assess the existence and to estimate the future liability. The actual cost of decommissioning and restoration is uncertain and cost estimates may change in response to numerous factors including changes in legal requirements, technological advances, inflation and the timing of expected decommissioning and restoration. In addition, Management determines the appropriate discount rate at the end of each reporting period. This discount rate, which is credit-adjusted, is used to determine the present value of the estimated future cash outflows required to settle the obligation and may change in response to numerous market factors. Fair Value of Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed in a Business Combination The fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination, including contingent consideration and goodwill, is estimated based on information available at the date of acquisition. Various valuation techniques are applied for measuring fair value including market comparables and discounted cash flows which rely on assumptions such as forward commodity prices, quantity of reserves and resources, production costs, Canadian-U.S. foreign exchange rates and discount rates. Changes in these variables could significantly impact the carrying value of the net assets. Income Tax Provisions Tax regulations and legislation and the interpretations thereof in the various jurisdictions in which Cenovus operates are subject to change. There are usually a number of tax matters under review; therefore, income taxes are subject to measurement uncertainty. Deferred income tax assets are recorded to the extent that it is probable that the deductible temporary differences will be recoverable in future periods. The recoverability assessment involves a significant amount of estimation including an evaluation of when the temporary differences will reverse, an analysis of the amount of future taxable earnings, the availability of cash flow to offset the tax assets when the reversal occurs and the application of tax laws. There are some transactions for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. To the extent that assumptions used in the recoverability assessment change, there may be a significant impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements of future periods.

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- Definition The disclosure of judgements that management has made in the process of applying the entity's accounting policies that have the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements along with information about the assumptions that the entity makes about the future, and other major sources of estimation uncertainty at the end of the reporting period, that have a significant risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next year. [Refer: Carrying amount [member]] + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef -Name IAS -Number 1 -IssueDate 2020-01-01 -Paragraph 10 -Subparagraph e -URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=1&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_10_e&doctype=Standard -URIDate 2020-01-01 + Details
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