In December 2010, Suncor began to write a bold new chapter in our company's history. We launched a decade-long growth plan, one that is expected to boost our total production to more than one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020 and reinforce our leading position in developing Canada's oil sands reserves—the world's second-largest oil basin.
Growth brings opportunity, but also a set of new challenges. The biggest one of all: balancing increased development with the need to live up to our social and environmental responsibilities, both as individual companies and collectively as an industry.
I believe the key to meeting this challenge lies in substantially increased and improved collaboration. As an industry, we need to work together, and with our respective stakeholders, to ensure we develop energy in ways that enhance social and economic benefits for society, while minimizing cumulative environmental impacts.
To that end, the overarching theme of this year's Report on Sustainability is exactly that—collaboration. Within that broad theme, the report examines what we at Suncor see as three pillars for ensuring a sustainable energy industry—namely performance, partnerships and possibilities.
Performance is about what we've achieved to date, as a company and an industry, on the social, environmental and economic fronts.
Partnerships refer to how we can raise the bar on industry-wide performance by finding new and innovative ways to work together.
Possibilities speak to what we can hope to achieve over the long term if energy companies and all stakeholders agree to collaborate constructively in pursuit of common goals and aspirations.
In 2010, Suncor marked some significant sustainability milestones. In September, we became the first oil sands company to complete surface reclamation of a tailings pond—a key step in returning the site back to nature.
This achievement was a great source of pride for everyone at Suncor. It also reinforced my strong belief that, when it comes to sustainability, the key is to seek clear solutions to real challenges—and then deliver on your commitments. We promised to be the first oil sands company to achieve surface reclamation of a tailings pond and that we'd get the job done by 2010. We came through on both scores.
In a similar spirit, 2010 saw us begin commercial implementation of new tailings technology pioneered by our company. This innovation is anticipated to allow us to reduce our backlog of tailings as well as the need for future ponds—and to reclaim entire mine sites in a third of the time it now takes. By the end of 2011, we expect to have spent over $1 billion to incorporate the technology into our operations.
Tailings management is, of course, an industry-wide challenge. So it's an obvious candidate for improved collaboration. That's why, in 2010, all seven oil sands companies running mining operations reached an unprecedented agreement to pool our discoveries in this area. Suncor, for its part, is now sharing our patented technology with industry competitors as well as university and government scientists so the environmental benefits of this game-changing innovation can be maximized.
I'm convinced the progress and collaboration we are seeing on the tailings front can be repeated to address other pressing challenges—including the need to reduce industry-wide water use, greenhouse gas emissions and land disturbance.
As our industry grows, we are seeing an increasing trend towards joint ventures and partnerships. Part of this is economic; it's a way of sharing risk in some very capital-intensive projects. But partnerships, like the one Suncor forged with Total E&P Canada Ltd. in 2010, also promise to deliver some clear environmental and social benefits.
Together, the two companies, with other project partners, intend to develop two oil sands projects—Suncor's Fort Hills mine and Total's Joslyn mine. Together, we also plan to restart construction of a new upgrader near Fort McMurray.
Instead of competing on separate upgrader and mine projects, Suncor and Total now have the opportunity to better manage growth and alleviate the impact on neighbouring communities and the natural environment. On the mining side, it also means Total will benefit immediately from the technological advances Suncor has made in tailings reclamation.
An example of even broader collaboration is the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative (OSLI), which is comprised of Suncor, Total and three other like-minded oil sands companies. This organization is actively pursuing new technologies and innovations that can lead to continuous improvement in our industry's environmental, social and economic performance.
Suncor is Canada's largest independent energy company; our leading position in the oil sands is supported by integrated operations in refining and marketing, North American natural gas production and oil and gas production internationally and offshore Eastern Canada. As such, I believe we have an obligation to thoughtfully contribute when it comes to public discussions on energy policy and climate change.
To that end, Suncor was an early and proactive advocate of developing a Canadian sustainable energy strategy—one that assesses the nation's long-term energy requirements and identifies the mix of proven and potential energy sources that can best meet those requirements. Such a strategy would examine how energy is both produced and used and include clear targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Discussions on a national strategy are underway. For this process to succeed, it must continue to be both collaborative and inclusive. What we all have in common is that we use energy in various forms every minute and every day. So all of us—industry, government, consumers and researchers, as well as social and environmental activists—need to be involved in mapping our energy future.
As much as Suncor is committed to improved collaboration, we also intend to keep leading by example. Our annual Report on Sustainability is a thorough and candid account of Suncor's performance and the challenges we continue to face going forward. It also updates Suncor's progress on our own performance goals to achieve reductions by 2015 in four key areas—water use, land disturbance, energy efficiency and air emissions.
At Suncor, we've always seen this report as more than just a corporate document; our hope is that it can also stimulate constructive discussion on the challenges and choices associated with energy development. In that spirit, I ask you to read the report carefully and give us your feedback. With a shared commitment to excellence and innovation, we can work together to build a more sustainable energy future.
Rick George
president and chief executive officer