Suncor Energy Inc. (SU), Canada’s largest energy company, said second-quarter profit rose 4.1 percent as higher oil prices countered a decline in output. Net income climbed to C$562 million ($592 million), or 36 cents a share, from C$540 million, or 35 cents, a year earlier, Calgary-based Suncor said today in a statement. Suncor and other Canadian oil-sands companies have benefited from rising prices over the past year. Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $102.34 a barrel in the second quarter, compared with $78.05 a year earlier. Production averaged 460,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter, down from 633,900 barrels a day a year earlier, following asset sales, planned maintenance at oil-sands projects and shuttered production in Libya, Suncor said. The company kept its annual output forecast of 520,000 to 570,000 barrels a day. Suncor in March completed a C$1.75 billion agreement with France’s Total SA to develop bitumen mines, which yield a sticky tar-like substance that’s refined into petroleum. The alliance will help Suncor double its oil-sands production by 2020, the company said. The earnings announcement was made before the start of regular trading on North American markets. Suncor fell C$1.06, or 2.7 percent, to C$38.14 in Toronto Stock Exchange trading yesterday. The shares have 14 “buy” and eight “hold” ratings from analysts tracked by Bloomberg. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Calgary at jvanloon@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net

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