Suncor's Board of Directors has approved a $5.5 billion capital spending plan for 2010. Approximately $1.5 billion will be directed toward growth project funding, primarily at the company's oil sands operations, while $4 billion in spending is targeted to sustaining existing operations.

The majority of growth spending will be directed toward the Firebag Stage 3 in-situ oil sands expansion, which was approximately 50 per cent complete before being deferred in early 2009. Suncor now expects the project to begin production in the second quarter of 2011, with volumes then beginning to ramp up toward design capacity of approximately 68,000 bpd of bitumen over a period of approximately 18 months. Spending will also be directed to Firebag Stage 4 to support a target of first bitumen production in the fourth quarter of 2012. Stage 4 also has a design capacity of 68,000 bpd.

"These are the first steps in our strategic plan to steadily increase oil sands production as we embark on a period of disciplined, but significant growth," said George. "Suncor enjoys the luxury of having more growth opportunity than we can immediately execute, so it's really a matter of ranking these opportunities and making sure we proceed with the right project at the right time and in the right way."

Tags: Suncor Energy