Suncor Energy Inc.’s SU-T share price jumped Wednesday as the company reported its fourth-quarter oil output was its second-highest quarter ever.
The Calgary-based company announced upstream production in the fourth quarter of 2023 of 808,000 barrels a day. With the strong fourth-quarter output, Suncor said it has met its corporate forecast provided in November, 2022, and recorded an annual average upstream production of 746,000 barrels a day.
Suncor’s December production averaged more than 900,000 barrels a day, the company’s best single-month performance ever.
The company’s stock price rose on the news, closing 5.93 per cent higher on Wednesday at $45.34.
The strong production numbers come less than a year after former Imperial Oil Ltd. head Rich Kruger was named Suncor’s new CEO, with a mandate to improve the company’s flagging fortunes. The company had been under pressure from investors for its lagging share price, as well as a string of operational and safety issues.
Mr. Kruger said in a news release Wednesday that Suncor’s newly announced production numbers are the result of a heightened focus on “the fundamentals of safety, operational excellence and reliability.”
“This is a tangible example that when we set a commitment, we will be laser focused on meeting it,” he said.
In a memo to clients, Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick said Suncor ended the year on a “very strong note.”
“We believe it provides a good degree of confidence in the performance potential of the overall asset base,” he said.
As part of its wider efficiency push, Suncor completed 1,500 job cuts in 2023, a move the company said is expected to save $450-million per year.
Suncor’s fourth-quarter output was the result of 758,000 barrels a day of oil sands production and 50,000 barrels a day from the company’s exploration and production operations, including the ramp-up at the Terra Nova offshore oil field.
Suncor’s net synthetic crude oil production was 476,000 barrels a day and net non-upgraded bitumen production was 282,000 barrels a day, resulting in total oil sands production of 758,000 barrels a day for the quarter.
Suncor said its downstream operations posted average refining utilization of 97 per cent in the fourth quarter.
The company is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter financial and operating results on Feb. 21.