Crude prices have staged a steady recovery this year from pandemic-driven lows in 2020, and Canadian producers also benefited from the provincial government of Alberta lifting mandatory output cuts late last year.

The company, which operates in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and Saskatchewan, said average realized crude prices jumped nearly 30% to C$52.68 per barrel from the prior quarter.

However, Canadian Natural stuck to its previous full-year production target of 1.19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) to 1.26 million boepd.

The company said it now expects to generate between C$5.7 billion and C$6.2 billion in free cash flow in 2021, up from a prior forecast of C$4.9 billion to C$5.4 billion.

"As the global vaccine distribution increases and crude oil demand recovers, especially in the United States, we are seeing improved commodity pricing", Canadian Natural said.

On an adjusted basis, it earned a profit of C$1.03 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, while analysts on average expected a profit of 84 Canadian cents per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue of C$6.61 billion ($5.40 billion) also topped estimates of C$6.01 billion.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)