Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to highlight what CEO Rich Kruger described as a record-setting year for safety, operations, and progress against multi-year financial and performance targets. Management repeatedly emphasized that recent gains were achieved “with the same asset base,” pointing to internal optimization, debottlenecking, and operational discipline rather than acquisitions or major capital-intensive projects.
Safety and operational records highlighted across the system
Kruger opened with safety results, saying 2025 was the “safest year in company history” and the third consecutive “safest ever.” He said injuries and incidents are down 70% versus 2022, citing fewer incidents and lower severity across personnel and process safety.
- Upstream production: 909,000 barrels per day in Q4, the highest quarterly level in company history; full-year production of 860,000 barrels per day, also a record and 20,000 barrels per day above the high end of original guidance.
- Upgrader utilization: 106% in Q4 and 99% for the year, both “best evers,” according to Kruger.
- Refining throughput: 504,000 barrels per day in Q4, the company’s best quarter ever; full-year throughput of 480,000 barrels per day, also a record and 30,000 barrels per day above the high end of original guidance.
- Refining utilization: 108% in Q4 and 103% for the year, with all four refineries operating at 100% or higher for the second consecutive quarter.
- Product sales: 640,000 barrels per day in Q4 (best fourth quarter ever); 623,000 barrels per day for the year, a record and 38,000 barrels per day above the high end of original guidance.
Kruger also noted that after never reaching 600,000 barrels per day of sales in any quarter previously, Suncor has now exceeded 600,000 barrels per day for six consecutive quarters.
Costs, capital discipline, and progress versus the 2024–2026 plan
Management pointed to cost and capital results as evidence that higher volumes are being delivered at lower unit costs. Kruger said operating, selling and general (OS&G) expenses totaled CAD 13.2 billion for the year, within 1.5% of 2024 despite higher upstream production, refining throughput, and refined product sales. Full-year capital spending was CAD 5.66 billion, down CAD 510 million versus 2024 and CAD 540 million below original guidance, while still executing the business plan.
Kruger said the company has “institutionalized” capital discipline through detailed readiness reviews before spending and post-execution reappraisals after projects are completed.
Looking back to Suncor’s spring 2024 Investor Day commitments for 2024 through 2026, Kruger said the company has already delivered the three-year plan in two years, citing:
- 114,000 barrels per day of production growth in two years versus a 108,000 barrels per day target over three years
- More than a $10 per barrel reduction in breakeven in two years versus a $10 target over three years
- More than CAD 3.3 billion of annual free funds flow improvement in two years versus a CAD 3.3 billion target over three years
- Capital reduced to about CAD 5.7 billion in two years, ahead of the three-year target
- Net debt target of CAD 8 billion achieved in Q3 2024, “nine months early,” and net debt at CAD 6.3 billion at year-end 2025
Balance sheet and shareholder returns framed as “pay you first”
CFO Troy Little underscored financial resiliency, focusing on the balance sheet and liquidity. He said net debt closed the year at CAD 6.3 billion, a “greater than 10-year low,” and described it as well under 1x debt-to-cash flow at $50 per barrel WTI. During the quarter, Suncor renewed its credit facilities for three- and four-year tenors, providing CAD 5.2 billion of available liquidity excluding cash on hand. Little also said the company refinanced CAD 1 billion of Canadian-dollar debt in November in two tranches (two- and five-year), achieving what he described as the lowest Canadian energy industry spreads in those tenors in more than 15 years.
Little said year-over-year share buybacks and dividends per share rose 4% and 5%, respectively, despite average crude prices decreasing by $11 per barrel over the same period. He attributed the company’s ability to provide “stable, predictable shareholder returns” to a WTI breakeven “in the low forties,” an integrated asset base, flexible capital plans, and a continuous improvement mindset supported by an Operational Excellence Management System across more than 15,000 employees.
Kruger said Suncor repurchased more than CAD 3 billion of shares in 2025, averaging CAD 250 million per month and increasing to CAD 275 million in December. He noted that buybacks continued even as WTI fell from roughly $75 per barrel in January 2025 to $58 per barrel in December. Little added that the company continued repurchases at CAD 275 million per month into January and February. Over the past three years, Kruger said Suncor has repurchased 163 million shares, more than 12% of the float, at an average price of CAD 50 per share.
Operational improvement examples: mining, Fort Hills, and debottlenecking
During Q&A, executives provided examples of the “field-driven optimization” approach management says is fueling performance gains.
On mining performance in mixed weather conditions, Kruger and EVP Oil Sands Peter Zebedee discussed work with Komatsu at Base Plant to implement what they called “Mud Mode,” intended to reduce slippage and stoppage of autonomous trucks in soft conditions. Zebedee said Suncor is working on “Mud Mode 2.0” for implementation by spring. He also said Base Plant has fully deployed autonomous operations with up to 140 haul trucks running autonomously. Zebedee said total material movement across the mining portfolio reached 1.4 billion tons in 2025, a 12% year-over-year increase at essentially the same cost base.
On Fort Hills, Zebedee said the company has tested stream-day capacity and was “pleased to see rates up over 220,000 barrels a day from both trains.” He said sustaining that level depends on mine sequencing and opening up the North Pit, as well as front-end plant enhancements to protect against erosion at higher throughput. Kruger added that while nameplate capacity is 194,000 barrels per day and a prior target referenced 175,000 barrels per day, management believes that with a higher “denominator,” a near-term ambition around 200,000 barrels per day is reasonable.
In downstream, EVP Downstream Dave Oldreive described a “value and volume” philosophy of running refineries full and challenging sales teams to “sell full.” He cited Montreal as an example: replacing two control valves, one pump impeller, and a small motor—about a CAD 100,000 investment—added 20,000 barrels per day of throughput, which he characterized as about CAD 100 million per year of improvement.
Oldreive also said Suncor achieved record gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel production over the last year, and increased its branded channel mix by growing retail and some wholesale volumes. Discussing diesel margins, he said distillate margins were strong through 2025 and peaked in October and November, and he expects diesel to remain strong through the first quarter. He added that Suncor’s relatively low gasoline-to-diesel ratio and flexibility benefits performance when diesel cracks are strong.
Oldreive provided another debottlenecking example at Edmonton, where routing changes and improved catalysts increased diesel yield by 8,000 barrels per day for a CAD 140,000 investment, which he said delivers about CAD 45 million per year in incremental value. He noted the change had minimal impact on 2025 results and is “all accruing now” into 2026.
Outlook themes: integration, capital framework, and March 31 Investor Day
Kruger said Suncor will detail a new value improvement plan on March 31 in Toronto, with a short-term horizon covering the next three years and a longer-term horizon spanning the next 15 years, with the longer-term portion focused on bitumen supply and development options.
On capital, Kruger said the company is constructing a longer-term plan intended to invest in resource development while continuing to return capital to shareholders, aiming to keep capital spending “at or below about that $6 billion level.” Little added that management wants stability and predictability in both operating costs and capital spending, similar to what the company says it has demonstrated over the last three years on OpEx.
Executives also discussed the benefits of integration, including what Kruger described as reduced sensitivity to Western Canadian Select differentials due to Suncor’s ability to upgrade and its downstream position. When asked about buyback conditions, Little pointed to the company’s integrated business and its stated priority of paying shareholders first, while encouraging investors to look at Suncor’s 2025 track record and “watch what we’re gonna do in 2026.”
About Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU)
Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.
Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.
