Suncor Energy Inc. said it plans to spend nearly $1.6 billion over the next five years to increase production of synthetic light crude oil from its Ft. McMurray, Alberta, oil sands operations to 210,000 barrels a day.
Suncor estimated that the investment would cut its costs for production by as much as $5 a barrel.
The new spending comes on top of an existing investment of more than $435 million in the oil sands mine and refinery in Ft. McMurray in Northeastern Alberta, that is scheduled to boost production of synthetic crude to 105,000 barrels a day by 1999 from 85,000 currently.
Suncor, a Calgary-based company, refines crude oil from the oil sands of northern Canada, which has some of the world’s largest oil reserves. Freeing the oil requires specialized and expensive mining and refining facilities, however.
