Suncor planning to grow oilsands business
By MARKUS ERMISCH, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 3rd December 2009
Investors need not fear Suncor Energy is moving away from being an oilsands-dominated company after merging with Petro-Canada, an executive told an energy conference in Miami yesterday.
Prior to its merger with Petro-Canada, Suncor's business consisted of 80% oilsands and 20% of what John Rogers called "other stuff," such as natural gas and downstream operations.
After August's merger, through which Suncor has acquired refineries, natural gas and offshore assets, oilsands now occupy only 50% of the company's business.
Rogers said he understands how this shift has created "confusion" in financial markets. "So you really have diluted your bottle in terms of where you are and where you think you are going to take the company," Rogers said.
Suncor plans to grow its oilsands business by up to 12% over the next decade, which will boost the oilsands share back to about 75% by 2015, Rogers said. "Clearly, we want to be an oilsands-dominated division," he said. This means Suncor won't channel much capital into its refineries and will shed some of its natural gas assets.
CEO Rick George had said last month the company expects to shed as much as $4 billion in assets in 2010.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/money/2009/12/03/12017816-sun.html
