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60 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 2 0 Oil Patch Report by Bruce Lantz D espite the turmoil besetting the oilpatch and, indeed, the world of late, one firm has positioned itself well to survive and thrive The energy industry has suffered from low prices, regulatory boondoggles and environmental protests for many months, a situation exacerbated by the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. These circumstances have forced the sale or, indeed, the closure of many operations, but Suncor Energy Inc. [SU-TSX, NYSE], headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is bet - ter positioned than most, despite share prices that have tumbled more than 12% in the face of crude dipping to as low as US $25 a barrel in the US, under US $10 a barrel in Canada. "We are living in an era of transforma- tion – as a company, as an industry and as a global community," Suncor President and CEO Mark Little said in a remarkably prescient sustainably report in late 2019. "Many will choose to take a step back. Suncor will continue to step forward to demonstrate leadership in an increasingly complex world. "What's certain is that Canada has a sig - nificant strategic resource in the oil sands that will continue to play an important role in the energy mix for the foreseeable future. What is also certain is that, collec- tively, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly." Suncor is known as Canada's leading integrated energy company, with opera- tions that include oil sands development and upgrading, offshore oil and gas pro- duction, petroleum refining and product marketing. Their integrated oil sands busi- ness contributed to Suncor's strong cash generation of more than $10 billion in 2019, for the second year in a row. Now, Little said, Suncor is planning for profit - able growth at a low capital cost in the medium term, avoiding significant pro- duction increases requiring large capital investments. "We continue to target cost reductions across our operations without compromising our core value of safety." There is "considerable uncertainty" about the impact and duration of the Government of Alberta's mandatory pro - duction curtailment, which has adversely impacted the company's Syncrude and Fort Hills operations due to the "continued, disproportionate effect of curtailment" as it is applied on a 2018 production basis when neither asset was operating at name- plate capacity, Little said. That said, the company has factored both the lower and higher ends of the curtailment into its pro- Suncor Energy keeps calm and carries on Photo courtesy Suncor Energy Inc.