New problem slows Syncrude

Article Excerpt

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $41 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $69.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) is Canada’s largest integrated oil company. With a 53.74% stake, the company is also the biggest investor in Alberta’s Syncrude oil sands project. In March 2017, an explosion and fire damaged the part of the Syncrude facility responsible for upgrading heavy oil. That process converts raw bitumen to light crude oil in order to transport it by pipeline. Syncrude had now resumed operating at about 50% capacity. However, a new leak at the plant cut crude deliveries by 100,000 barrels in May and will cut another 1 million barrels in June. Once that leak is fixed, Syncrude should return to its full capacity of 11 million barrels a month. Suncor is a buy. buy…