Syncrude
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Syncrude Canada Ltd. is the world's largest producer of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. They are located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands. They reportedly supply 13% of Canada's energy requirements.
Syncrude was formed as a research consortium in 1964. Construction at the Syncrude site didn't begin until 1973 and the site officially opened in 1978. In recent years Syncrude has undergone some multi-billion dollar expansion projects, including the construction of a new site 35 km north of the original site called Aurora starting in 1998 and the "Upgrader Expansion 1" project which aims to add 100 000 barrels per day processing capacity to the original plant, bringing the total to about 360 000 barrels per day. That should boost Syncrude's production from about 90 million barrels per year to about 125 million barrels per year by 2006, barring further project delays and cost overruns.
The company is a joint venture involving a number of companies, including Canadian Oil Sands Limited, Imperial Oil (Exxon), Petro-Canada, Nexen, ConocoPhillips, Mocal Energy and Murphy Oil. As a result, it is not traded directly but the Canadian Oil Sands Trust, with the largest stake (and with Syncrude as its only business), is publicly traded on the TSX under the symbol COS.UN.
