Big oil sands investments set to pay off

Article Excerpt

These three leading oil producers are aggressively expanding their oil sands operations. These projects are more expensive to develop than conventional deposits, and the recent drop in oil prices could hurt their profitability. However, their reserves should last for decades, and their operating costs tend to fall after they start up. Moreover, these companies’ refineries, which convert oil into gasoline and other fuels, help shield them from volatile oil and gas prices. That’s because refineries pay less for crude when oil prices decline; this enhances their profits. SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $48.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) became Canada’s largest integrated oil company in 2009, when it merged with Petro- Canada. Suncor gets 60% of its production from its Alberta oil sands projects. The rest comes from conventional oil and natural gas properties. Suncor also operates four refineries and 1,500 Petro- Canada gas…