Suncor Energy Inc.

History

The entity that would eventually evolve into Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 as Sun Company Inc., and it supplied lubricating oils, kerosene, and other products to manufacturing plants in the Montreal area during World War 1.

In 1919, it opened its first office in Montreal, rebranding itself as Sun Company of Canada. By 1920, the business had grown and added new product lines, such as fuel oil and gasoline brought in from the United States via railway.
In 1923, the company rebranded itself yet again, this time as Sun Oil Company Limited. Four years later, it debuted Blue Sunoco, a single-grade no-lead gasoline, and by 1930 it opened its first auto service stations in Toronto, Quebec City, and Montreal under the Sunoco moniker. In the mid-1940s, it had drilled its first oil well in Canada, while in 1957 it began processing Canadian crude oil in a newly built refinery in Sarnia, Ontario.

The company’s pioneering work in the west kicked into high gear in the 1960s when it took a major risk investing in the Great Canadian Oil Sands project in Alberta’s Athabasca region. This grand project marked the world’s first commercial development of the Canadian oil sands, which began production in 1967. About a year later, just before the company’s 50th anniversary, oil began to flow from Fort McMurray, Alberta to the company’s refinery in Sarnia. In 1979, the modern incarnation of Suncor Energy Inc. was formed through the merger of Sun Oil’s Canadian heavy oil and conventional oil businesses with Great Canadian Oil Sands, an entity that had established the first commercial oil sands operation in Canada.

In the 21st century, Suncor expanded by acquiring refineries and retail networks across Canada and the United States. A major milestone was the 2009 acquisition of the Petro-Canada brand and network of gas and service stations, which made Suncor the second-largest company in Canada by market value at the time. Over the next decade, Suncor also increased its stake in Syncrude, the large oil sands project, becoming the majority owner and operator. In 2019, the company launched Canada’s Electric Highway, the country’s first coast-to-coast network of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles, which are primarily located in the company’s Petro-Canada stations. In 2023, Suncor further strengthened its position in the Canadian energy market by acquiring TotalEnergies’ Canadian operations—a company involved in oil and gas exploration, production, and renewable energy development.

Products Services

Suncor’s operations are divided into several key areas: Oil Sands, Exploration and Production (E&P), and Refining and Marketing. The company develops, produces, and upgrades oil sands bitumen in northern Alberta, making it a cornerstone of Canada’s energy sector. The E&P division also manages offshore oil production on Canada’s east coast and conventional oil and gas operations internationally, in countries like Libya and Syria. Suncor Energy Inc. also owns and runs oil processing plants in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Colorado, turning crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum derivatives and by-products.

As of 2009, Suncor also administers the Petro-Canada retail network, which includes over 1,800 stations across Canada, as well as Canada’s Electric Highway—a nationwide network of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles.

Additionally, Suncor participates in energy trading, marketing crude oil, natural gas, and other refined products globally. The company also actively invests in renewable fuels and lower-emission power, aiming to reduce its environmental footprint while providing reliable energy to customers.

Financial Performance

According to the World Economic Forum, Suncor Energy Inc. has an approximate annual revenue of $25 billion. The 2009 merger with Petro-Canada, valued at around $21 billion, significantly boosted the company’s market capitalization, placing it among Canada’s top firms by value. Suncor Energy Inc.’s continued investments in expanding Canada’s oil sands production and refining capacity, along with acquisitions like the increase in its ownership stake in Syncrude and acquiring TotalEnergies Canadian operations, have substantially strengthened its asset base and operational scale.