Replies to post #8990 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[OakesCS]

On a long term basis I concur with the 'no brainer' thesis but over the next year or so I wouldn't bet on these stocks. I suspect many producers r marginally profitable at current prices. A better strategy may b long dated oil futures.

[jbog]

Why would you want to be in energy at this point in the cycle?

[mr_o]

Suncor Quarterly Profit Shrinks as Crude-Oil Price Falls

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) said profit in the third quarter fell 46 percent as crude-oil prices sank to the lowest point in more than two years.

Net income fell to C$919 million ($821 million), or 63 cents a share, from C$1.69 billion, or C$1.13, a year earlier, the Calgary-based company said in a statement yesterday. The company cut its forecast oil prices this year by $3 a barrel for Brent, $2 for West Texas Intermediate and $1 for Western Canadian Select.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude prices have fallen as global growth has slowed and supplies have surged in the U.S., helped by new drilling technology. Alberta’s oil-sands and Duvernay shale are among the highest-cost areas in the world to produce. About a quarter of oil-sands projects are at risk as prices fall, the International Energy Agency said Oct. 14.

The company reduced its cost per barrel from the oil sands to an average of C$31.10 from C$32.60 a year earlier. “Suncor delivered a solid financial quarter despite lower crude oil pricing,” Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams said in the statement.

WTI crude fell to the lowest close since June 2012 last week. It traded today at $81.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a 24 percent drop from its high for the year.

Oil-sands developers have struggled with rising costs in northern Alberta because of labor shortages and distance from equipment suppliers. Suncor in July cut its planned spending for this year to C$6.8 billion from C$7.8 billion in a bid to further reduce costs and invest in the most profitable projects.

Suncor earlier this year booked an after-tax charge of C$718 million associated with the Joslyn oil-sands project, a venture with France’s Total SA.

To expand the company’s markets, Suncor loaded its first tanker of heavy crude from Canada’s eastern coast in September. The oil was bound for Italy, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Calgary at [e-mail]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-30/suncor-quarterly-profit-shrinks-as-crude-oil-price-falls.html?cmpid=yhoo