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The chief executive of oilsands giant Suncor Energy Inc. says he's encouraged by the tone in Canada surrounding the sector compared with the past decade, but it's still too early to say whether recent government commitments can help spur future growth.
Speaking to analysts on Wednesday as Suncor reported its second-quarter earnings, CEO Rich Kruger described a "very different mood" today than it has been in the past when it comes to the future of the oil and gas industry.
Last month, Suncor and four other major oil companies signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal and Alberta governments that outlined shared ambitions around carbon policy, expanded market access, and the fiscal and regulatory conditions that would be required to attract capital and incent growth.
The agreement included advancing the multibillion-dollar Pathways carbon capture and storage project, a condition for a new West Coast oilsands pipeline moving ahead, which would serve to offset some of the carbon emissions that infrastructure would enable.
The governments agreed to pursue regulatory and fiscal policies that would spur oilsands production growth, which in turn would ensure the pipeline from Alberta to a tanker port in southern British Columbia can be filled.
Kruger said it's "still to be determined" how much the MOU could affect Suncor's plans for growth.
"There's a lot of work to do to turn this non-binding set of ambitions into definitive agreements," he said.
"We want to be very thoughtful on long-term commitments and capital allocation. If there's opportunity for selective high-quality globally competitive growth, our shareholders value it, we see it, we have the ability to pursue it. But our position today, is it materially different than it would have been six months ago on the outlook? Let's just see where things go."
The company reported net earnings of $3.7 billion for the second quarter, up from a profit of $1.13 billion a year earlier. That amounted to a profit of $3.17 per share for the quarter ended June 30, up from 93 cents a year earlier.
Adjusted operating earnings, which Suncor considers a better gauge of its underlying performance because it filters out the effects of unusual items, were $3.8 billion, or $3.23 per share. That's up from the prior-year quarter, when Suncor had adjusted operating earnings of $873 million, or 71 cents per share.
Operating revenues, net of royalties, were $7.8 billion for the period, up from $5.8 billion from a year ago.
Total upstream production was 760,900 barrels per day in the second quarter, down from 808,100 in the same 2025 period.
The decrease in production came amid extreme weather during the three-month period, with Kruger comparing it to biblical proportions.
"What's the difference between the story of Noah's Ark told in the book of Genesis and the Fort McMurray region in the second quarter of 2026?" he said.
"In Noah's Ark, the torrential rains stopped after 40 days and 40 nights. In Fort Mac, record rain and snowmelt continued throughout the quarter."
With total precipitation at its highest in more than 30 years and 50 per cent higher than the 10-year average, Kruger said mining productivity suffered and quarterly production was down an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 barrels per day during the quarter.
"Clearly, this was an unusual one-off event, but we learned from it to build resilience for future events by improving our planning and preparation with new 48- and 72-hour weather outlooks," he said.
"The takeaway is we can't eliminate weather risk, but we can better mitigate the impact."
Kruger added that to prepare for potential future disruptions, Suncor has begun stockpiling ore in the most vulnerable areas within each mine, pre-securing critical minerals and equipment such as gravel and graders, and is using technologies such as drones to monitor mine conditions in real time.
He said conditions have returned to normal since the second quarter, with production at expected rates.
Refined product sales for the second quarter were 654,800 barrels per day, up from 600,500 in the same period a year earlier, marking what the company said was a quarterly record.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SU)
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version used quarter-over-quarter comparisons when it should've used year-over-year figures.
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