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AnonymousSuncor Energy Inc. is not proceeding with an $11.6-billion upgrading plant to convert raw bitumen into refinery-ready synthetic crude oil.
Canada’s largest oil company said Wednesday the multibillion-dollar plant, a joint venture with France’s Total SA, will not be built, capping months of speculation about the project’s fate. Suncor said it would incur a $140-million charge to its first-quarter net income, plus $180-million to its cash flow. Suncor also acquired Total’s interest in the upgrading partnership for $515-million including a tank farm and a storage facility, it said in a statement.
“Since 2010, market conditions have changed significantly, challenging the economics of the Voyageur upgrader project,” Suncor chief executive Steve Williams said in a statement.
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This is bad move by Suncor because it is anticipating bad economics from competing with US Bakken & other shale oil crude and it is the wrong perspective. Suncor and other Canadian Oil Sands producers should know better than anyone what happens when you put a light “synthetic” type crude that is basically a “barbell” or “doughnut” – aka nothing in middle ……. you end up blending in more heavy than you normally would to balance it out.
Basically most Shale Crude is Kerogen which breaks down to form Bitumen which breaks down to form Crude oil …… so its the same balance they do around the Synbit/Dilbit/Syn-DilBit blends only more so!
Plus they are looking at Shale crudes price today where the huge logistic cost price hit for moving it by Rail ($18-25/Bbl) makes it competitive with heavies …… that won’t last past 2015 as all the Pipelines complete or like previous COP Seaway and move hundreds of thousands of barrels a year from Cushing bottleneck to Gulf & Midwest.
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