Suncor reports record production despite lower oil prices

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Suncor Energy Inc. SU-T booked yet another quarter of record production and refining this week even as it saw a decline in third-quarter profit owing to weak oil prices.

The Calgary-based company produced roughly 870,000 barrels a day from July through September. Chief executive officer Rich Kruger said Wednesday said it was “far and away, our best third quarter ever,” hitting around 41,000 barrels a day higher than Suncor’s previous record, which was set last year.

Suncor’s refineries also operated at levels that exceeded their stated operational capacity this past quarter, averaging 102-per-cent utilization.

In all, Suncor refined roughly 492,000 barrels a day in the third quarter. Those numbers set various records, including at its facilities in Sarnia, Ont., and Montreal, Mr. Kruger said on an analyst call.

Suncor has already increased capacity at its refineries and expects to add even more through “smart, thoughtful, frugal work, site by site by site,” Mr. Kruger said. That puts the company on pace to beat its annual record of 100-per-cent utilization, set last year, he added.

Turnarounds – in which a facility is shut down for major maintenance – were, for the most part, completed well ahead of schedule in terms of both time and budget, Mr. Kruger said.

“And I’m really pleased to say it was completed without so much as a cut finger or a spilled barrel,” he said.

Work to further improve turnaround times is not done yet, he said, despite Suncor having some of the older facilities in the Alberta market.

“Our goal is best-in-class,” he said. “I think I’m living proof that age shouldn’t directly correlate with performance in a negative way.”

Reducing the time and cost of turnarounds underscores the company’s “concerted effort” to show financial discipline and drive down its operating and capital costs, Mr. Kruger said.

“We have said internally that we want to have a year-on-year capital expenditure of less than $6-billion,” he said.

“That was a core tenet in our three-year plan. We’re achieving that now this year. If anybody’s anticipating waking up on guidance and seeing a bigger number next year, stay in bed.”

Suncor’s net earnings were $1.62-billion or $1.34 per share during the three months ended Sept. 30, down from $2.02-billion or $1.59 per share a year earlier.

Operating revenues net of royalties were $6.17-billion, down from $6.32-billion during the same 2024 quarter.

While sputtering oil prices hit Suncor’s bottom line, chief financial officer Kris Smith said Suncor is not betting on prices to generate profits.

“What we’re betting on is sustainably and reliably generating free cash flow and having a resilient company that does that in terms of the dividend to the investors,” he said. “We view that as a commitment and a promise.”

Suncor will continue its plans to take more market share in the most profitable parts of the oil and gas retail sector, despite relatively small growth of around 2 per cent a year, said Dave Oldreive, the company’s executive vice-president of downstream operations.

With a report from The Canadian Press