(Calgary) Suncor Energy has canceled a scheduled business update following the resignation last week of CEO Mark Little.
Posted yesterday at 4:13 p.m.
The Calgary-based energy giant had scheduled the event, which was to take place on Wednesday, months ago in response to investor concerns about operational performance and workplace safety. The company is committed to providing information on what it is doing to improve safety and workflow at its oil sands facilities.
Last Thursday, however, another death occurred at Suncor facilities near Fort McMurray, Alta.
A day later, the company announced that Mr. Little was stepping down immediately. In a press release, Board Chairman Michael Wilson cited “the imperative need for change” because Suncor has “fallen short of” its own safety and operating standards.
Earlier this spring, Suncor found itself in the crosshairs of activist US investment firm Elliot Investment Management, which wrote a letter calling for an overhaul of Suncor’s board and management. The firm cited Suncor’s safety record, as well as other operational challenges, and the company’s lagging share price.
Elliot Investment Management declined to comment Monday on the latest developments at Suncor.
Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick, who downgraded Suncor’s stock to a ‘sell’ recommendation on Monday, said in a note that Suncor needed ‘real change’, not just a new CEO. . He pointed out that the at least 12 deaths at Suncor sites since 2014 is “something we haven’t seen in 25 years of industry coverage.”
“The problem is not a one-man situation,” Skolnick wrote. It’s about the corporate culture where accidental deaths plagued the company even before Mr. Little’s tenure as CEO began in 2019.”
In addition to the death that occurred last week, Suncor’s sad safety record includes the death of a contractor in a truck accident at the Base mine site in January, as well as an accident in 2021 involving a bulldozer colliding with a pickup truck at Fort Hills oil sands mine. This accident resulted in the death of two contractors.
Another worker died in 2021 when the bulldozer he was driving fell through the ice of a tailings pond at Suncor’s Base mine. A fire, which caused injuries, also took place in a refinery in March.
Suncor’s stock was trading at $41.42 as of noon Monday, down 2.4% from Friday’s closing price.
Suncor’s share price has risen more than 35% since the start of the year and 1% since Elliot Investment Management announced its intentions on April 28.
The accumulation of deaths at Suncor demonstrates that significant corporate culture reform is needed. The company will have to devote time and money to it, underlines the analyst.
“It’s not about a cut in the dividend, multiple operational issues and the inability to meet guidelines, including [Suncor] suffered, Mr. Skolnick said. These are risks for people. »
Kris Smith, senior vice president of the Downstream division, has been named interim chief executive. Suncor’s board of directors has formed a committee to conduct a global search to find the company’s next CEO.
Suncor said its investor update will take place this fall instead.