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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