Page 86 - Suncor AR English

ADVISORIES

resulting in increased costs and/or delays in bringing on position if it is reassessed and ultimately be required to pay

new production; political, economic and socio-economic increased taxes as a result; changes in environmental and
risks associated with Suncor’s foreign operations, including other regulations; the ability and willingness of parties with

the unpredictability of operating in Libya and that whom we have material relationships to perform their
operations in Syria continue to be impacted by sanctions or obligations to us; outages to third-party infrastructure that

political unrest; risks and uncertainties associated with could cause disruptions to production; the occurrence of
obtaining regulatory and stakeholder approval for unexpected events such as fires, equipment failures and

exploration and development activities; the potential for other similar events affecting Suncor or other parties
disruptions to operations and construction projects as a whose operations or assets directly or indirectly affect

result of our relationships with labour unions that represent Suncor; the potential for security breaches of Suncor’s
employees at our facilities; and market demand for mineral information systems by computer hackers or cyberterrorists,

rights and producing properties, potentially leading to and the unavailability or failure of such systems to perform
losses on disposition or increased property acquisition
as anticipated as a result of such breaches; our ability to

costs.
find new oil and gas reserves that can be developed
economically; the accuracy of Suncor’s reserves, resources
Factors that affect our Refining and Marketing segment and future production estimates; market instability
include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in demand and
supply for refined products that impact the company’s affecting Suncor’s ability to borrow in the capital debt
markets at acceptable rates; maintaining an optimal debt
margins; market competition, including potential new
market entrants; our ability to reliably operate refining and to cash flow ratio; the success of the company’s risk
management activities using derivatives and other financial
marketing facilities in order to meet production or sales
targets; the possibility that completed maintenance instruments; the cost of compliance with current and
future environmental laws; risks and uncertainties
activities may not improve operational performance or the
output of related facilities; risks and uncertainties affecting associated with closing a transaction for the purchase or
sale of an oil and gas property, including estimates of the
construction or planned maintenance schedules, including
the availability of labour and other impacts of competing final consideration to be paid or received, the ability of
counterparties to comply with their obligations in a timely
projects drawing on the same resources during the same
time period; and the potential for disruptions to operations manner and the receipt of any required regulatory or other
third-party approvals outside of Suncor’s control that are
and construction projects as a result of our relationships
with labour unions or employee associations that represent customary to transactions of this nature; and the accuracy
of cost estimates, some of which are provided at the
employees at our refineries and distribution facilities.
conceptual or other preliminary stage of projects and prior
Additional risks, uncertainties and other factors that could to commencement or conception of the detailed
influence the financial and operating performance of all of
engineering that is needed to reduce the margin of error
Suncor’s operating segments and activities include, but are and increase the level of accuracy. The foregoing important
not limited to, changes in general economic, market and
factors are not exhaustive.
business conditions, such as commodity prices, interest
rates and currency exchange rates; fluctuations in supply Many of these risk factors and other assumptions related
to Suncor’s forward-looking statements and information
and demand for Suncor’s products; the successful and
timely implementation of capital projects, including growth are discussed in further detail throughout this MD&A,
including under the heading Risk Factors, and the
projects and regulatory projects; competitive actions of
other companies, including increased competition from company’s 2013 AIF dated February 28, 2014 and
Form 40-F on file with Canadian securities commissions at
other oil and gas companies or from companies that
provide alternative sources of energy; labour and material www.sedar.com and the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. Readers are also
shortages; actions by government authorities, including the
imposition or reassessment of taxes or changes to fees and referred to the risk factors and assumptions described in
other documents that Suncor files from time to time with
royalties, such as Suncor’s current disagreement with the
Canada Revenue Agency relating to the settlement of securities regulatory authorities. Copies of these documents
are available without charge from the company.
certain derivative contracts, including the risk that Suncor
may not be able to successfully defend its original filing

82 SUNCOR ENERGY INC. ANNUAL REPORT 2013