Back to basics.A year after deciding to be an oil company instead of an ESG darling, Suncor shares were on fire Wednesday after the Calgary-based oil producer posted second quarter results that handily beat analyst expectations.The company’s shares were up almost 6% or $2.98 on the Toronto Stock Exchange after it reported second quarter net earnings of $1.57 billion or $1.27 per share. Analysts had been expecting $1.08.That in turn helped Canada’s big board reverse almost a week of losses, putting it 200 points to the upside in morning trading..Meanwhile the world’s largest oil sands producer pumped about 771,000 barrels per day (bpd) of black gold and refined about 431,000 barrels of it.First half, production averaged a record 803,000 bpd and the company is on track to beat its full-year 2024 guidance. On a conference call, CEO Rich Kruger said that figure could come in as high as 810,000 bpd for the full year, which would also be a record.“Following a strong first quarter, the second quarter was about execution and momentum,” he said in a statement..It’s also a validation of the company’s decision to refocus its operations back on oil and gas while downplaying a “disproportionate” focus on renewable energy.Kruger raised the ire of environmentalists and federal MPs like the NDP’s Charlie Angus last August when he said Suncor would sell off its wind and solar assets and go back to being a premier oil sands player. “We win by creating value through our large integrated asset base underpinned by oil sands,” he said at the time.For that he was hauled in front of the House of Commons natural resources committee to explain his remarks, whereupon he was blamed for scorching millions of hectares of northern Alberta with wildfires.Kruger, who was formerly CEO of Imperial Oil, was lured out of retirement in the spring of 2023 to take the reigns of the struggling Suncor.He seems to have succeeded. Since making his controversial remarks Suncor’s shares are up nearly 30% year-over-year and are within distance of a 52-week high of $56.69.
Back to basics.A year after deciding to be an oil company instead of an ESG darling, Suncor shares were on fire Wednesday after the Calgary-based oil producer posted second quarter results that handily beat analyst expectations.The company’s shares were up almost 6% or $2.98 on the Toronto Stock Exchange after it reported second quarter net earnings of $1.57 billion or $1.27 per share. Analysts had been expecting $1.08.That in turn helped Canada’s big board reverse almost a week of losses, putting it 200 points to the upside in morning trading..Meanwhile the world’s largest oil sands producer pumped about 771,000 barrels per day (bpd) of black gold and refined about 431,000 barrels of it.First half, production averaged a record 803,000 bpd and the company is on track to beat its full-year 2024 guidance. On a conference call, CEO Rich Kruger said that figure could come in as high as 810,000 bpd for the full year, which would also be a record.“Following a strong first quarter, the second quarter was about execution and momentum,” he said in a statement..It’s also a validation of the company’s decision to refocus its operations back on oil and gas while downplaying a “disproportionate” focus on renewable energy.Kruger raised the ire of environmentalists and federal MPs like the NDP’s Charlie Angus last August when he said Suncor would sell off its wind and solar assets and go back to being a premier oil sands player. “We win by creating value through our large integrated asset base underpinned by oil sands,” he said at the time.For that he was hauled in front of the House of Commons natural resources committee to explain his remarks, whereupon he was blamed for scorching millions of hectares of northern Alberta with wildfires.Kruger, who was formerly CEO of Imperial Oil, was lured out of retirement in the spring of 2023 to take the reigns of the struggling Suncor.He seems to have succeeded. Since making his controversial remarks Suncor’s shares are up nearly 30% year-over-year and are within distance of a 52-week high of $56.69.
