5.23.2001 ET

(CSRwire) Suncor Energy announced today it has nearly doubled its annual target for aboriginal business development at its Oil Sands operation at Fort McMurray, and is close to achieving its target for aboriginal employment in its Oil Sands workforce.

“When we announced our oil sands expansion project in 1997, we also set an objective to develop stronger relationships with our neighbors in northeastern Alberta, including Aboriginal communities,” said Mike Ashar, Suncor’s executive vice president. “At Suncor, we believe responsible energy development must take into account the impact industry has had on their way of life. For us, this means working with local aboriginal communities to address concerns about employment, business development and the environment.”

In 2000, Suncor’s Oil Sands operation awarded aboriginal contractors $47 million. This amount included contracts for Project Millennium expansion. The company awarded an additional $47 million in 2000 to joint ventures involving aboriginal ownership.

Suncor also achieved its goal of $30 million per year in long-term contracts with aboriginal businesses. This goal was set as part of the company’s strategy to increase the total value of aboriginal business contracts in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo while ensuring Suncor receives quality and cost-effective goods and services. Since 1992, the annual amount spent on aboriginal contracts has increased 12 times.

Jerry Welsh, manager, Aboriginal Affairs, said the company plans to “raise the bar even further” by establishing a new target – to increase the value of long-term contracts to $50 million per year by 2005. This does not include expansion projects.

“Local aboriginal communities have identified business development as essential to their own development,” says Welsh. “Industrial development in this region has had a big impact on their traditional lands and their way of life. For our part, we see business development as one way of helping the aboriginal communities to re-establish their self-reliance.”

Suncor also reported that more than nine per cent of the full-time workforce at its Oil Sands operation in 2000 was aboriginal, up from three per cent in 1996. The company plans to increase full-time employment for aboriginal workers at the operation to a minimum of 12 per cent by 2002 to better reflect regional demographics in northern Alberta.

“Aboriginal people are still under represented in the energy industry workforce, and at Suncor we’re working with the communities and educational institutions to help to change that,” said Welsh.

In 2000, Suncor partnered with Keyano College in Fort McMurray to create the ‘Aboriginal Mine Operations Program’ to respond to increased interest in employment in the oil sands industry. Suncor has hired a number of aboriginal people from the program. In recognition of their unique partnership in developing the program, the Suncor Energy Foundation and Keyano College received a National Partners in Education Award in 2001 from the Conference Board of Canada.

In other parts of Alberta, in northern British Columbia and at its Sarnia refinery in Ontario, Suncor consults with aboriginal communities that live near its operations or are affected by its operations.

“Our goal is to foster partnerships with these communities that result in new economic and social opportunities and a stronger relationship with industry,” said Welsh.

Suncor Energy is an integrated Canadian energy company. Suncor’s Oil Sands business mines and upgrades oil sand and markets custom-blended refinery feedstock and premium transportation fuels, near Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta. Suncor is also a conventional natural gas producer in Western Canada; and operates a refining and marketing business in Ontario under the Sunoco brand. At the same time as Suncor meets today’s energy needs, the company invests in alternative and renewable energy for the future. Suncor Energy’s common shares and preferred securities are listed for trading on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Suncor is a member of the Conference Board of Canada’s Council for Corporate Aboriginal Relations.

This news release contains forward-looking information. Actual future results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. This forward-looking information regarding Suncor Energy’s future plans is preliminary and remains subject to change in response to factors that could include detailed engineering, technical issues, environmental issues, technological issues, stakeholder consultation and general economic factors and conditions. The risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results are described in Suncor’s Energy’s annual report to shareholders and other documents filed with regulatory authorities.