Suncor Energy Projects 2014 Oil Production To Rise 10%

(RTTNews) - Canada-based Suncor Energy Inc. (SU, SU.TO) on Wednesday forecast oil production for 2014 to increase by about 10 percent and projects capital spending for the year of C$7.80 billion.

Suncor Energy said its planned average production for 2014 is 565,000 to 610,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day or boe/d.

The company projects oil sands production for the year to increase by over 14 per cent to 400,000 to 430,000 bpd, more than offsetting the reduced production from the North America Onshore business as a result of the natural gas divestiture in 2013.

Of the C$7.80 billion capital spending plan for 2014, Suncor expects to allocate about C$4.23 billion towards growth projects, with C$1.93 billion earmarked for advancing oil sands projects that include the Fort Hills joint venture, and near-term debottlenecking as well as expansion initiatives such as MacKay River 2.

In addition, the company plans to allocate growth capital to exploration and production projects, including investment in Golden Eagle in the North Sea and development of East Coast Canada assets such as Hebron.

Suncor Energy noted that refining and marketing growth capital of C$220 million will largely be deployed on projects to support inland crude supply to the Montreal refinery.

The company expects the remaining C$3.57 billion of the 2014 capital spend to go toward sustaining capital investments focused on improving reliability across the company's assets, maintaining current production capacities through planned maintenance activities, and ensuring the safety as well as efficiency of existing operations.

Steve Williams, Suncor president and chief executive officer, said, "With no major turnarounds planned in our oil sands business in 2014 and further debottlenecking opportunities, we're set for a strong year of continued production growth. In addition, we expect to drive our oil sands cash operating costs below $35 per barrel as we continue to focus on reliability and cost management."

SU closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $36.24, up $0.59 or 1.65 percent on a volume of 4.75 million shares.