Suncor expanding in Sarnia
Published On Sat Oct 03 2009
SARNIA–Suncor Energy Inc. will spend about $120 million over the next year to double the production capacity of its St. Clair ethanol plant near Sarnia, to 400 million litres a year, the company announced Friday.
"This is great news for Suncor, for southern Ontario and for Canada," said Suncor president and CEO Rick George in a statement announcing the expansion.
Suncor said the expansion, expected to be completed by late 2010 or early 2011, will create some 350 jobs in the Sarnia-Lambton during the construction phase and 15 new jobs to operate the expanded plant.
It will also require some 40 million bushels of corn annually from local farmers, the company added.
Suncor said the ethanol plant expansion, along with Suncor's investment in four wind power projects across Canada, is expected to offset nearly one million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, the equivalent of the annual tailpipe emissions of approximately 200,000 cars.
Suncor shares were down 39 cents at $35.35 amid a general energy shares slide Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Suncor is Canada's largest oil and gas company in the wake of its takeover of Petro-Canada Inc. this summer. It operates oil sands businesses, natural gas operations and has other oil and gas interests around the world.
The company also owns refineries and a string of gasoline stations under the Sunoco and Petro-Canada brands in western and eastern Canada.
Suncor also operates a refinery in the Denver, Co. area of the Rocky Mountain U.S. states, where it owns 46 Phillips 66 branded stations.
The Canadian Press
