Suncor and the Future of Oil Sands

Suncor, Canada's largest producer of "oil sands," faces a host of issues involving prices, costs, and the environment. The Government of Canada recently put an explicit limit on carbon emissions from oil sands and a price on carbon. Suncor, which produces more than 400,000 barrels per day of bitumen and synthetic oil must reduce its emissions at the same time that crude oil prices have been dropping. Reduction of cash operating costs, therefore, becomes key. Yet environmental organizations in the U.S. remain adamantly opposed to the production of oil sands and its movement into the U.S. by either pipeline (e.g., Keystone XL) or railcar. The concrescence of these issues poses immense challenges to Suncor management.