Suncor Energy
Encyclopedia
Suncor Energy Inc. is a Canadian integrated energy company based in Calgary
, Alberta
. It specializes in production of synthetic crude
from oil sands. Suncor ranks number 159 in the Forbes Global 2000
list.
Until 2010, Suncor marketed products and services to retail customers in Ontario through a downstream network of 280 Sunoco
-branded retail sites, and 200 customer-operated retail and diesel sites. Following the acquisition of Petro-Canada
, Suncor decided to phase out the Ontario-only Sunoco brand in favour of converting their Sunoco sites to Petro-Canada sites. This was done in order to unify all of their downstream retail operations under the Petro-Canada banner throughout Canada, as well as to discontinue paying licensing fees for the Sunoco brand from Sunoco Inc. in the United States. Nationwide, Petro-Canada's upstream product supplier and parent company would be Suncor Energy. Suncor also markets through a retail network of Phillips 66
-branded outlets in Colorado.
as Sun Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Sun Oil (now Sunoco
). Sun merged its Canadian interests, including Great Canadian Oil Sands (the developer of Canada's Athabasca oil sands
) to form Suncor in the 1970s. In 1981, the Government of Ontario purchased a 25% stake in Suncor before divesting in 1993. In the mid-1990s Sun Oil, now Sunoco
, Inc. also divested its interest in Suncor, although Suncor maintains the Sunoco retail brand in Canada. Suncor is now an independent, widely-held company.
On March 23, 2009, Suncor announced the acquisition of Petro-Canada. This merger created a company with a combined market capitalization of C$43.3 billion. On 4 June 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. The merger with Canada's 11th largest company was completed on August 1, 2009 in a 21 billion dollar deal to form the second largest company in Canada.
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, AB; Sarnia, ON; Montreal, QC and Commerce City, Colorado. These refineries supply industrial, retail and commercial consumers.
Suncor owns and operates an oil sands upgrading plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Originally owned by Great Canadian Oilsands, a subsidiary of Sun Oil, it is now wholly owned by the independent Suncor. It was the first large commercial development on the Athabasca Oil Sands
, although small, earlier projects like that at Bitumount
also played a role in development.
Suncor also operates four wind farms. These provide 147 megawatts of power per year, a CO2 offset of 284,000 tonnes compared to coal-generated electricity. Suncor's ethanol facility in St. Clair, ON currently produces 200 million litres of ethanol
per year. This ethanol is blended into retail gasoline products sold at Sunoco and some Petro-Canada service stations.
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In December 2009, Husky Energy Inc.
announced that it had entered into an agreement with Suncor Energy Inc. and Suncor Energy Products Inc. to purchase 98 retail outlets in the Ontario market. These gas station will be converted from Sunoco to Husky brand.
Suncor operates retail fuel operations under the brand names of Sunoco exclusively in Ontario. With the merger of Petro-Canada
and Suncor Energy on August 1, 2009, Suncor now sells its products under the Petro-Canada name across Canada. Suncor has also converted many Sunoco
-branded gas stations to Petro-Canada stations. As of 2011, the Sunoco.ca web site indicates there is one Sunoco branded station left located in Ottawa, Ontario.
In the United States, it operates retail outlets in Colorado as Shell
and Phillips 66
, under licence from Shell Oil Company
(the U.S.
subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell
) and ConocoPhillips
, respectively.
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 for dumping untreated wastewater from a company work camp near Fort McMurray into the Athabasca River
in 2007.
Suncor is working to reduce the amount of bitumen entering tailings ponds. Under the auspices of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
of Canada (NSERC), Suncor has teamed with the University of Alberta
and Matrikon, an Edmonton-based software company, to develop new separation-cell technology that could reduce the amount of bitumen entering tailings ponds by 50 per cent.
, as published in Maclean's
magazine, the largest oilsands development firm to receive this honour.
In October 2008, Suncor was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers
" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's
newsmagazine. Later that month, Suncor was also named one of Alberta's Top Employers
, which was announced by the Calgary Herald
and the Edmonton Journal
.
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. It specializes in production of synthetic crude
Synthetic crude
Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the processes used in the upgrading. Typically, it is...
from oil sands. Suncor ranks number 159 in the Forbes Global 2000
Forbes Global 2000
The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value...
list.
Until 2010, Suncor marketed products and services to retail customers in Ontario through a downstream network of 280 Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
-branded retail sites, and 200 customer-operated retail and diesel sites. Following the acquisition of Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...
, Suncor decided to phase out the Ontario-only Sunoco brand in favour of converting their Sunoco sites to Petro-Canada sites. This was done in order to unify all of their downstream retail operations under the Petro-Canada banner throughout Canada, as well as to discontinue paying licensing fees for the Sunoco brand from Sunoco Inc. in the United States. Nationwide, Petro-Canada's upstream product supplier and parent company would be Suncor Energy. Suncor also markets through a retail network of Phillips 66
Phillips 66
Phillips 66 is a brand of gasoline and service station in the U.S. It is owned by the ConocoPhillips Company.Phillips 66 will also be the name of the future downstream company created when ConocoPhillips repositions its integrated assets and businesses into two independent, publicly-traded...
-branded outlets in Colorado.
History
Suncor was founded in 1919 in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
as Sun Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Sun Oil (now Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
). Sun merged its Canadian interests, including Great Canadian Oil Sands (the developer of Canada's Athabasca oil sands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
) to form Suncor in the 1970s. In 1981, the Government of Ontario purchased a 25% stake in Suncor before divesting in 1993. In the mid-1990s Sun Oil, now Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
, Inc. also divested its interest in Suncor, although Suncor maintains the Sunoco retail brand in Canada. Suncor is now an independent, widely-held company.
On March 23, 2009, Suncor announced the acquisition of Petro-Canada. This merger created a company with a combined market capitalization of C$43.3 billion. On 4 June 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. The merger with Canada's 11th largest company was completed on August 1, 2009 in a 21 billion dollar deal to form the second largest company in Canada.
Development Operations
In North America, Suncor develops and produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada, Colorado, and offshore drillingOffshore drilling
Offshore drilling refers to a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently produce hydrocarbons which lie in rock formations beneath the seabed...
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, AB; Sarnia, ON; Montreal, QC and Commerce City, Colorado. These refineries supply industrial, retail and commercial consumers.
Suncor owns and operates an oil sands upgrading plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Originally owned by Great Canadian Oilsands, a subsidiary of Sun Oil, it is now wholly owned by the independent Suncor. It was the first large commercial development on the Athabasca Oil Sands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
, although small, earlier projects like that at Bitumount
Bitumount
Efforts to develop Canada's oil sands go back more than one hundred years. The Bitumount plant in northern Alberta represented an important milestone in the development of these resources...
also played a role in development.
Suncor also operates four wind farms. These provide 147 megawatts of power per year, a CO2 offset of 284,000 tonnes compared to coal-generated electricity. Suncor's ethanol facility in St. Clair, ON currently produces 200 million litres of ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
per year. This ethanol is blended into retail gasoline products sold at Sunoco and some Petro-Canada service stations.
Retail Operations
Husky Energy
Husky Energy Inc. is a large integrated Canadian energy company based in Calgary, Alberta. Husky's foundation is in Western Canada, where it has extensive conventional oil and natural gas assets, significant heavy oil production and a range of midstream and downstream operations, including...
announced that it had entered into an agreement with Suncor Energy Inc. and Suncor Energy Products Inc. to purchase 98 retail outlets in the Ontario market. These gas station will be converted from Sunoco to Husky brand.
Suncor operates retail fuel operations under the brand names of Sunoco exclusively in Ontario. With the merger of Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...
and Suncor Energy on August 1, 2009, Suncor now sells its products under the Petro-Canada name across Canada. Suncor has also converted many Sunoco
Sunoco
Sunoco Inc. is an American petroleum and petrochemical manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formerly known as Sun Company Inc. and Sun Oil Co. ....
-branded gas stations to Petro-Canada stations. As of 2011, the Sunoco.ca web site indicates there is one Sunoco branded station left located in Ottawa, Ontario.
In the United States, it operates retail outlets in Colorado as Shell
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
and Phillips 66
Phillips 66
Phillips 66 is a brand of gasoline and service station in the U.S. It is owned by the ConocoPhillips Company.Phillips 66 will also be the name of the future downstream company created when ConocoPhillips repositions its integrated assets and businesses into two independent, publicly-traded...
, under licence from Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
(the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
) and ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
, respectively.
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. 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 for dumping untreated wastewater from a company work camp near Fort McMurray into the Athabasca River
Athabasca River
The Athabasca River originates from the Columbia Glacier of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada...
in 2007.
Suncor is working to reduce the amount of bitumen entering tailings ponds. Under the auspices of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is a Canadian government agency that provides grants for research in the natural sciences and in engineering. Its mandate is to promote and assist research....
of Canada (NSERC), Suncor has teamed with the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
and Matrikon, an Edmonton-based software company, to develop new separation-cell technology that could reduce the amount of bitumen entering tailings ponds by 50 per cent.
Community involvement and awards
In 2007, Suncor Energy was named one of Canada's Top 100 EmployersCanada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies. Winners are...
, as published in Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine, the largest oilsands development firm to receive this honour.
In October 2008, Suncor was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies. Winners are...
" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
newsmagazine. Later that month, Suncor was also named one of Alberta's Top Employers
Alberta's Top Employers
Alberta's Top Employers is a competition that recognizes the best workplaces in Alberta. Published annually since October 2005, the designation recognizes the Alberta employers that lead their peers in providing exemplary employee benefits and forward-thinking human resource programs...
, which was announced by the Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
and the Edmonton Journal
Edmonton Journal
The Edmonton Journal is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.-History:The Journal was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as a rival to Alberta's first newspaper, the 23-year-old...
.
See also
- Canadian Centre for Energy InformationCanadian Centre for Energy InformationThe Canadian Centre for Energy Information is a non-profit organization created in 2002 to meet an urgent need for information on all aspects of the Canadian energy system from oil, natural gas, coal, thermal, and hydroelectric power through to nuclear, solar, wind, and other sources of energy...
- History of the petroleum industry in Canada (oil sands and heavy oil)History of the petroleum industry in Canada (oil sands and heavy oil)Canada's oil sands and heavy oil resources are among the world's great petroleum deposits. They include the vast oil sands of northern Alberta, and the heavy oil reservoirs that surround the small city of Lloydminster, which sits on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan...
- Scotford UpgraderScotford UpgraderThe Shell Scotford Upgrader is an oilsand upgrader, a facility which processes crude bitumen from oil sands into a wide range of synthetic crude oils. The upgrader is owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Project , a joint venture of Shell Canada Energy , Marathon Oil Sands L.P. and Chevron Canada Limited...
- SyncrudeSyncrudeSyncrude Canada Ltd. is the world's largest producer of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. It is located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands, and has a nameplate capacity of of oil, equivalent to about 13% of Canada's consumption...
- Largest petroleum companies Canada