Suncor shares go from first to worst in oil-sands boom

Suncor Energy, once Canada’s most valuable oil producer, is now seeing rivals outrun it in the stock market on the heels of the oil-price boom.

Suncor Energy Inc., once Canada’s most valuable oil producer, is now seeing rivals outrun it in the stock market on the heels of the oil-price boom.

Over the past year, Suncor shares have risen 56 per cent. That’s less than half the gain for competitor Cenovus Energy Inc., which is up 125 per cent, and about half the 103 per cent advance for Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Suncor is also the only Canadian oil-sands producer to underperform the rise in West Texas Intermediate crude prices during that time.

Analysts say the stock is being weighed down by a checkered operational track record compared with its rivals, including a fire that resulted in an injury at a refinery last month and fatal accidents in the last two years. Suncor also cut its production guidance at its Fort Hills oil sands mine in 2021 after finding slopes in the mine were not stable.

Rafi Tahmazian, a senior portfolio manager with Calgary-based Canoe Financial, said the stock was hurt by the company’s decision to slash its dividend during the pandemic, though it has since raised the payout back to 2019 levels.

“The market is looking for proverbial leadership” from Suncor, Tahmazian said.