Sunoco: Could Work With Partner For Long-Term Projects
15 Dicembre 2008 - 3:33PM
Dow Jones News
While riding out short-term volatility in demand for the refined
products it produces, Sunoco Inc. (SUN) is planning several large
projects, for which it will seek strategic partners. Chief
Executive Lynn Elsenhans spoke to analysts and investors at an
annual analyst meeting Monday, outlining the company's plans for
strategic projects.
Within the refining sector, Sunoco plans to seek a strategic
partner for its Toledo, Ohio refinery to invest in upgrading
projects that would allow the plant to process heavy, cheap grades
of crude oil from Canada. Elsenhans acknowledged that Canadian
crude production is quite expensive, relative to production
elsewhere, but said she does expect production from Canada to come
online, despite the decline in oil prices over the past few
months.
After the Toledo project, Elsenhans said she hopes to find a
partner to invest in major capital improvements at the company's
refineries along the eastern coast of the U.S. The company operates
three large east coast refineries. Elsenhans declined to say which
companies Sunoco might partner with, and did not give a specific
timeline for the potential projects.
Elsenhans, who arrived at Sunoco in August, says she hopes to
execute projects efficiently. "There's a certain culture that is
consistent with an engineering culture, where there's a lot of
analysis," she said, describing the culture of the
Philadelphia-based company. "What I would hope would be different
is that we take that analysis and still do it...and don't let it
paralyze us."
-By Jessica Resnick-Ault, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4435;
jessica.resnick-ault@dowjones.com
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