Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy, Inc.
Public
Traded as TSX: SU
NYSE: SU
S&P/TSX 60 component
Industry Oil and gas
Founded Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1919
Headquarters Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Key people
 Michael Wilson, Chairman of the Board
Steve Williams (CEO)[1]
Products Petroleum, natural gas, petrochemicals and others
Revenue Increase $29.68 billion CAN (2015)[2]
Decrease ($1.99) billion CAN (2015)[2]
Total assets CAN$77.527 billion (2015)[3]
Total equity CAN $39.039 billion (2015)[3]
Number of employees
 13,026 (2011)[4]
Website www.suncor.com

Suncor Energy is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in production of synthetic crude from oil sands. Suncor ranks number 134 in the Forbes Global 2000 list.[5]

Until 2010, Suncor marketed products and services to retail customers in Ontario through a downstream network of 280 branded as Sunoco, and 200 customer-operated retail and Diesel fuel sites. Following the acquisition of former Crown corporation Petro-Canada, Suncor converted its Sunoco stations (which were all in Ontario) to Petro-Canada sites in order to unify all of its downstream retail operations under the Petro-Canada banner throughout Canada. It also enabled the company to discontinue paying licensing fees for the Sunoco brand to Sunoco Inc. in the United States. Nationwide, Petro-Canada's upstream product supplier and parent company is Suncor Energy. Suncor also markets through a retail network of Shell, Exxon, and Mobil branded outlets in Colorado.[6]

History

1919-2000

Suncor was founded in 1919 in Montreal as Sun Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Sun Oil (now Sunoco). In 1979, Sun formed Suncor by merging its Canadian refining and retailing interests; Great Canadian Oil Sands (a majority-owned subsidiary, which constructed and operated the first commercial plant to develop Canada's Athabasca oil sands and went on production in 1967); and its conventional oil and gas interests. In 1981, the Government of Alberta purchased a 25% stake in the company; it divested in 1993. In 1995 Sun Oil also divested its interest in the company, although Suncor maintained the Sunoco retail brand in Canada. Suncor took advantage of these two divestitures to become an independent, widely held public company.

2000-present

On March 23, 2009, Suncor announced its intent to acquire Petro-Canada.[7][8] This merger created a company with a combined market capitalization of C$43.3 billion. On June 4, 2009, a 98% approval rate was reached by Suncor's shareholders for the acquisition of Petro-Canada and the Competition Bureau approved the merger on June 21, 2009.[9][10] The merger with Canada's 11th largest company was completed on August 1, 2009[11] in a $21 billion deal to form the second-largest company in Canada (after Royal Bank of Canada) in terms of market capitalization.[12] In December 2009, as a condition of the merger, Suncor sold 98 gas stations in Ontario to Husky Energy, consisting of 68 Sunoco-branded locations and 30 Petro-Canada-branded locations.[13]

On June 27, 2013, the company ranked first in a table of Canada's 100 biggest companies by revenue published by The Globe and Mail.

In October 2015, Suncor launched a hostile takeover bid for Canadian Oil Sands worth around $3.29 billion, following rejected advances earlier in the year in March and April.[14]

On April 27, 2016, Suncor announced that they had reached a $937-million deal to acquire Murphy Oil Corp.'s five per cent stake in the Syncrude project north of Fort McMurray, Alta. This follows the takeover of Canadian Oil Sands less than a year earlier, and will increase its interest in Syncrude from just under 49 per cent to nearly 54 per cent, making it the majority shareholder of the project.[15]

Operations

In North America, Suncor develops and produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada, Colorado, and offshore drilling in eastern Canada. Its international efforts include offshore developments in the North Sea, and conventional, land-based efforts in Libya, Syria, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Suncor operates refineries in Edmonton, Alberta; Sarnia, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec and Commerce City, Colorado. These refineries supply industrial, retail and commercial consumers. The company is also one of the largest Canadian retailers of petroleum products.[16]

Bitumen, oil and natural gas production

Suncor is the world's largest producer of bitumen, and owns and operates an oil sands upgrading plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Originally developed by Great Canadian Oil Sands, a majority-owned subsidiary of Sun Oil, it is now wholly owned by the independent Suncor. It was the first commercial development on the Athabasca oil sands, although small, earlier projects like that at Bitumount also played a role in development. The company holds a 36.75% interest in the Joslyn north oil sands project which was shelved pending an economic review by operator Total S.A. in May 2014. The company also produces conventional oil, heavy crude oil, and natural gas.[17]

Refining

Suncor Energy's refinery in Commerce City, Colorado.

In Canada, Suncor operates refineries in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The company's 135,000-barrel-per-day Strathcona, refinery runs entirely on oil sands-based feedstocks and produces a high-yield of light oils. A 137,000-barrel-per-day Montreal refinery produces gasoline, distillates, asphalts, heavy fuel oil, petrochemicals, solvents and feedstock for lubricants. An 85,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Sarnia, Ontario produces gasoline, kerosene, jet and diesel fuels. A 98,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Commerce City, Colorado produces gasoline, diesel fuel and paving-grade asphalt.[17]

Retail

Suncor's main downstream brand in Canada is Petro-Canada. Prior to its acquisition of Petro-Canada, Suncor operated and franchised retail locations under the Sunoco brand—which were rebranded under the Petro-Canada brand following the purchase. Following the purchase, Suncor announced that it would terminate all of its independent Sunoco franchises, as it planned to implement Petro-Canada's model of requiring franchisees to operate multiple locations. A group of affected franchisees filed a class-action lawsuit over the matter, claiming that Suncor had violated Ontario's Arthur Wishart Act . However, the case was blocked by an Ontario court.[18][19]

In the United States, it operates retail outlets in Colorado under the Shell and Phillips 66 brands.[20]

On April 13, 2012, Suncor paid a $500,000 fine after being found guilty of price-fixing in Ontario.[21]

Aircraft fleet

As of August 2016, Suncor Energy owns and operates three Bombardier CRJ900ER aircraft.[22]

Environmental record

According to a Pollution Watch fact sheet, in 2007 Suncor Energy's oil sands operations had the sixth highest greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.[23][24] While Suncor has reduced the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of its oil sands operations by more than 50% since 1990, total greenhouse gas emissions from the company's operations have increased because of growing oil sands production.

On April 2, 2009, Suncor was fined $675,000 for failing to install pollution control equipment at its Firebag operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta in July 2006. On the same day, Suncor was fined $175,000[25] for dumping untreated wastewater from a company work camp near Fort McMurray into the Athabasca River in 2007.[26][27]

In the United States, Suncor has also been fined by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. In April 2012, a fine of $2.2 million was assessed for air pollution. Suncor failed to monitor and control emissions a number of times throughout 2009 and 2010, and numerous emissions exceeded regulations.[28] Suncor was also cited for "failure to conduct equipment inspections, train employees, and fully develop standard procedures for operating equipment".[29] Additionally, a benzene leak into Sand Creek was discovered in the fall of 2011. Employees at Suncor and the nearby Metro Wastewater Reclamation District Plant were exposed to benzene through the air and through drinking water.[30][31]

By 2009, Suncor was working to reduce the amount of bitumen entering tailings ponds. In 2009, under the auspices of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Suncor teamed with the University of Alberta and Matrikon, an Edmonton-based software company, to develop separation-cell technology to potentially reduce the amount of bitumen entering tailings ponds by 50 per cent.[32]

By 2009, Suncor operated four wind farms. These wind farms provided 147 megawatts of power, providing an annual CO2 offset of 284,000 tonnes compared to coal-generated electricity. Suncor operates an ethanol facility in St. Clair, Ontario. This ethanol is blended into retail gasoline products sold at Sunoco and some Petro-Canada service stations.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bell, David. "Suncor CEO slams climate change deniers, politicians who cater to them". CBC. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Market Activity". Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Market Activity". Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  4. ↑ "2011 Annual report (SU)" (PDF). Suncor. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Suncor Energy on the Forbes Global 2000 List". April 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Shell and ExxonMobil". Suncor Energy. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Suncor, Petro-Canada merge". Canoe. March 23, 2009. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Suncor, Petro-Canada announce merger". CBC News. March 23, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
  9. ↑ Suncor shareholders add support to Petrocan deal, CTV, June 4, 2009, archived from the original on May 2, 2014
  10. ↑ "Competition Bureau approves merger". Petro Canada. June 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Suncor, Petro Canada complete merger". bizjournals. August 6, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  12. ↑ "A united Petro-Canada and Suncor: Canada's second-biggest company, after the Royal Bank of Canada?". National Post. March 23, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Husky buys 98 stations from Suncor". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  14. ↑ "Suncor Energy launches $4.3 billion hostile bid for Canadian Oil Sands". Reuters. October 6, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Suncor snags majority control of Syncrude with $937M Murphy Oil deal". CTV News.
  16. ↑ "2011 Annual report p.22" (PDF). Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  17. 1 2 "2011 Annual report p. 22" (PDF). Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Gas retailers sue Suncor over Petro-Can merger". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  19. ↑ "Judge blocks $200M suit against Suncor". National Post. 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  20. ↑ "Shell and Phillips 66". Suncor. June 1, 2010. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Suncor gas-price fixing reaps $500K fine". CBC News. April 13, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2016): 9. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  23. ↑ "Becoming No. 1: Suncor's story". CBC News. March 23, 2009.
  24. ↑ http://www.pollutionwatch.org/pressroom/factSheetData/GHGFactSheetEng.pdf
  25. ↑ "Suncor fined $850,000 for environmental violations". CBC News. April 2, 2009.
  26. ↑ "Suncor fined twice in one day". Calgaryherald.com. April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  27. ↑ Feature story - March 10, 2009 (March 10, 2009). "Ninety charges against Suncor surface a year later | Greenpeace Canada". Greenpeace.org. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  28. ↑ [KWGN.com web staff. (April 2, 2012). Suncor fined $2.2 million for leaking cancer-causing chemical. Retrieved from http://kwgn.com/2012/04/02/suncor-fined-2-2-million-for-leaking-cancer-causing-chemical/]
  29. ↑ [Finley, Bruce (April 2, 2012). Suncor refinery in Commerce City will pay fine for air quality violations. The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20308243/suncor-refinery-commerce-city-will-pay-fine-air]
  30. ↑ [Finley, B. (January 6, 2012). Suncor refinery employees tested for benzene contamination. The Denver Post. Retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19690855]
  31. ↑ [Crummy, K. E. (May 25, 2012). Suncor spill clean-up at Sand Creek is months, years away. The Denver Post. Retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20710927/suncor-spill-clean-up-months-years-away?source=pkg]
  32. ↑ "Edmonton Journal, "Why be shy about green success story?", May 2, 2009".
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