Suncor is going back to being a good old-fashioned oil company..That’s word from the CEO of Canada’s — indeed, the world’s — largest oil sands producer, who says the company has been too focussed on woke renewable energy such as wind and solar..According to new boss, Rich Kruger, the company’s board of directors agree that a “revised direction and tone” is needed if the company is to go back to what it does best, namely producing oil.."We have a bit of a disproportionate emphasis on the longer-term energy transition," Kruger said. "Today, we win by creating value through our large integrated asset base underpinned by oil sands.".In the interim the company has sold the last of its wind and solar power assets, getting out of a business its been involved with since 2000..That doesn’t mean Suncor is giving up on its goal of achieving so-called net-zero operations by 2050, however..It remains a member of the Pathways Alliance of the country’s six largest oil sands producers who are building a massive carbon capture storage and transportation hub near Cold Lake..Kruger, who was formerly head of Imperial Oil and brought Canada’s last major oil sands mine at Kearl Lake on stream, came out of retirement to head Suncor earlier this this year. This was his first full quarter at the helm..Since then he has slashed thousands of jobs and sold off assets under pressure from large — American — institutional shareholders. As of Aug. 1 those efforts have netted about $125 million in cost savings..That didn’t stop the company from taking a $275 million restructuring charge in the second quarter that saw its profits fall by more than half, to $1.9 billion from $4 billion a year earlier. .Likewise its second quarter cash flow, a measure of a company’s ability to fund capital projects — or pay dividends — fell to $2.7 billion from $5.3 billion at the same time last year. Net debt fell to $14.4 billion, or $1.3 billion from the prior quarter after it sold its UK offshore holdings..In keeping with its renewed focus on crude, the company dutifully reported significant increases in oil production thanks to reduced downtime and unplanned maintenance..Total oil sands output inched up to 814,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 811,000 bpd in the first quarter and was up a healthy 7% from 760,000 bpd recorded in the second quarter of last year..Upgraded synthetic crude, which fetches a premium price on world markets, rose to 522,000 bpd from 497,000 bpd in the same quarter of last year..Although realized prices were down more than 30% from a year ago — to $89.19 per barrel from $131.28 — overall oil sands costs fell to $29.10 from $33.50 per barrel a year earlier..The company also said a cybersecurity incident in June impacted some business operations but did not have a “material impact” on its financials that one Desjardins analyst described as “ain’t so bad.”.Investors were mostly favourable to the results; Suncor’s shares were off about four bits or 1% on the TSX Tuesday morning — on a down day for energy shares in general — to $41.90. They’re up about 1.5% on the year.
