Tag: Suncor Energy

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac Health

Suncor Energy Offers Proposal Over Environmental Concerns

A recent proposal by Suncor Energy addresses environmental concerns and has gained the support of activists, but at least one other energy company has stated that they will not follow suit and do the same. Suncor has proposed leaving some of the oilsand reserves in place when these resources are too difficult or expensive to produce, and this would reduce both the costs involved and the carbon emissions produced. A request to the Alberta government to let Suncor strand some of the oilsands resources that they have access to has been confirmed by company CEO Steve Williams. Williams explained during a conference call that “We are advocating in a modest way to work with government so that we can strand some of the oil in the oilsands.”

The Suncor Energy proposal will address some environmental concerns, and change how the company does business. According to Williams “Our regulation is written so that we take to a very high percentage the last piece of oil out. That tends to be the most expensive both economically and environmentally. What we would like to do is leave that last piece in (the ground). I’m very optimistic we are making some breakthroughs with government to do that.” Clean energy think tank Pembina Institute researcher Simon Dyer explained that “We would agree that Alberta’s historic focus on maximizing oilsands production … rather than optimizing production on the highest quality ore may be having unnecessary environmental impacts on things like greenhouse gas intensity and tailings production and lowering returns to Albertans as the owners of the resource.”

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Alberta Ft Mac Health

Pipeline Spill at Suncor Energy Has Crews Working on Cleanup

Suncor Energy has experienced another pipeline spill and crews are working to clean up the problem. According to reports the spill involves 20,000 litres of diluent at the oilsands facility for the company, situated to the north of Fort McMurray. Nicole Fisher, the spokesperson for Suncor, explained that at approximately 3 a.m. company safety staff “responded to a notification from our leak detection system. The leak detection system notified us right away and we were able to respond within minutes and the containment system worked as intended. We will continue to cooperate with the Alberta Energy Regulators and monitor the area where the incident occurred.” Fisher did not go into detail about the cause of the spill or the specific chemical which leaked out, but she did state that no further environmental risks are expected.

In recent years there have been a number of pipeline spills and problems, and the latest at Suncor Energy provides additional fodder for those who object to the energy giant on environmental grounds. In spite of safety precautions and numerous protocols in place to prevent any leaks there have been several incidents which have caused concern to the public. The involvement of the Alberta Energy Regulator does offer some assurances though because this ensures that proper clean up and monitoring will be mandatory. Further details about the spill may be revealed in coming days and weeks, but for right now few details have been released. The chemical which spilled may never be identified to the public but the energy agency should have access to this information in order to assess and monitor any environmental impact from the pipeline spill.

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Alberta Ft Mac Politics

Random Drug Tests for Suncor Energy Employees is Allowed According to Alberta Judge

An Alberta judge has given approval for Suncor Energy to perform random drug tests on company employees. This is the latest round in the legal battle and it allows Suncor Energy to randomly test for drugs and alcohol use in employees. A ruling in 2014 by an arbitration panel determined that the testing plan would violate union worker privacy and prohibited the company from moving forward with a plan for random drug testing. Court of Queen’s judge Justice Blair Nixon reversed the panel ruling and concluded that the panel did not consider relevant evidence about incidents of drug or alcohol abuse which involved both union and non union workers.

In the ruling for Suncor Energy which allows random drug testing Justice Nixon wrote that “The majority ignored evidence pertaining to some two-thirds of the individuals working in the oilsands operation. By focusing only on the bargaining unit, the majority (of the panel) expressly excluded consideration of relevant evidence.” The judge determined that a new arbitration panel was needed, and the new panel should thoroughly review the random testing plan submitted by the oil company. Sneh Seetal, the Suncor Energy spokesperson, defended the goal of the random testing plan and said that the company is pleased with the ruling by the judge. Seetal stated “What is important for Suncor is really looking at the driver behind our desire to include random testing in our already comprehensive safety program. We wouldn’t be pursuing this if we didn’t feel it was absolutely necessary.” According to Dave Moffat, the spokesman for Unifor, “We are disappointed but we will proceed through the system and hope for a satisfactory result. It is important to all Canadians that the randomness of this kind of personal invasion is something that we have to make sure gets vetted through our system and that everybody understands its seriousness and its implications.”

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Economic Ft Mac

Major Growth Projects Difficult to See in the Near Future According to Suncor Energy CEO

The CEO of Suncor Energy, Steve Williams, explained to investors recently that the company will not go back to the way it used to operate. Right now the company is in the process of completing 2 projects, the Hebron East Coast offshore project at $14 billion and the Fort Hills oilsands project at $13.5-billion. Suncor owns 50% of the Fort Hills project and has a 21% stake in the Hebron project. After these two are complete major growth projects may be difficult to see. According to Williams “We’ve got two major growth projects coming to a conclusion, (but) it is difficult in the current economic environment to see how you would approve those types of projects. You will see us taking a breath around growth projects, because what the market is offering is cheaper alternatives in terms of buying capacity, so there isn’t a go back to how we were.”

The two major growth projects that Suncor Energy is currently finishing up with are expected to add roughly 123,000 barrels of oil production to the daily total of the company. In addition the company recently announced that it was purchasing an additional stake in the amount of another 5% in the Syncrude oilsands project. Suncor will pay Murphy Oil Corp. $937 million for this stake. After this acquisition Suncor Energy will be the majority stake holder with 54%. Steve Williams also discussed the possibility that Suncor could sell off assets in the next year valued at between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, and that the sale of the retail gas business that the company has is possible.

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac

More Layoffs and Job Cuts Planned by Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy has confirmed that the company will be engaging in more job cuts and layoffs although an exact number of the jobs affected or the disposition of these jobs has not been addressed yet. Oil has now gone up past $40 a barrel, leading some to hope that things were turning around for the region and local economy. In the last few years company after company has cut jobs, laid off workers, and trimmed spending and expenses in order to stay competitive. The announcement by Suncor shows that the economy has still not fully rebounded and things are still somewhat tough for oil companies in the current environment.

Sneh Seetal, the spokesperson for Suncor Energy, recently gave an interview and discussed the planned job cuts and layoffs. “In regards to which oilsands projects we’ll be looking at, some of this is the in situ replication work. There’s no set number, because we need to make the business decisions and decide what’s the work that needs to be done, while doing it efficiently and making it sustainable. That will be the workforce we need as we go into the future.” Seetal also stated “As we make those adjustments to our workforce, our workforce requirements will change and unfortunately this means some people will leave the organization. This is a stressful time for people, but we are committed to treating people with dignity and respect. This continuation of our cost reduction efforts and our need to be a low cost operator is to maintain our competitive position, regardless of different market cycles.”

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac Politics

Will Suncor Energy Walk Away From COS Bid if Extension is Granted by Alberta Securities Commission?

Suncor Energy, Alberta Securities Commission

A hostile takeover bid for COS by Suncor Energy may have been thwarted, at least in part, if the Alberta Securities Commission provides an extension on the deadline to accept the deal. If this happens Suncor Energy says that it will not extend the bid for COS any further than the December 4 time line previously given. The energy giant has stated that it will walk away rather than extend the bid offered. Steve Reynish, the executive vice-president of strategy and corporate development for Suncor Energy, testified at a meeting that the company will walk away if an extension is upheld by the Alberta Securities Commission. The hearing in front of the commission allowed arguments on both sides to be heard, and they will determine whether COS can keep their poison pill defence against he hostile takeover attempt.

The poison pill defence requires an open bid period minimum of 120 days, double the bid period of 60 days that Suncor Energy offered. The Alberta Securities Commission must decide whether COS can require the minimum bid period or if the shareholders must decide within the 60 days that the bid from Suncor allows for. Arthur Korpach, the director for COS, explained “The real issue is: What is the time that’s appropriate and needed to complete the process with our third parties so that we can bring forward choice for our shareholders, as opposed to no choice?” Do you think Suncor Energy will walk away if COS is allowed to extend the bid deadline? Should the deadline be extended?