Monday, October 4, 2010

Teck (NYSE:TCK), Suncor (NYSE:SU), Total (NYSE:TOT) and Fort Hills Project

Now that Total SA (NYSE:TOT) has closed their acquisition of UTS Energy, they are going to put their heads together with Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) and Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE:TCK) concerning the Fort Hills Canadian oil sands project.

With the purchase of UTS Total gained a 20 percent share in the Fort Hills project, which includes Teck and Suncor as partners. Suncor has a 60 percent stake and Teck the other 20 percent.

Construction costs on the project soared right before the recession, causing the project to be shut down. Total wants to get together with their partners and put together a strategy on restarting the property.

Jean-Michel Gires, president of Total E&P Canada, said, "We will meet with the other partners ... in order to study the next step, especially how Suncor wants to promote a new development plan for this asset." There should be a plan in place within several weeks, added Gires.

Total has other projects in the sands, including their partnership with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in Surmount, Joslyn, and Northern Lights.

Surmont and Joslyn could produce a combined 310,000 barrels a day in a few years. Joslyn still has to be approved by Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board. Surmont is projected to produce about 110,000 barrels a day by 2015.

Total is hoping for regulatory approval by the end of 2011, with production starting in 2017 if that happens.

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