(Marketwire) -- Suncor Energy Inc. announced today the release of its 2010 Report on Sustainability - a comprehensive review of the company's environmental, social and economic performance for the year. The report, themed "Energy. Innovation. Commitment," outlines Suncor's performance in 2009 and provides key five-year performance trends.

Environmental goals and 2009 performance highlights

Suncor has outlined four environmental performance goals:

• Reduce fresh water consumption by 12 per cent by 2015;
• Increase reclamation of disturbed land area by 100 per cent by 2015;
• Improve energy efficiency by 10 per cent by 2015;
• Reduce air emissions by 10 per cent by 2015.

Please note: all of the proposed reductions are absolute, except for energy efficiency which is intensity-based:

Performance highlights from the report include:

• Significant strides in water management in 2009.
• An 11 per cent reduction in fresh water withdrawal from 2008
• Improved tailings management at oil sands mining operations
• New TRO(TM) (Tailings Reduction Operations) process helps transform fluid tailings ponds into solid landscapes.
• Continued progress on climate change action plan.
• A 53 per cent decrease in mineable oil sands greenhouse gas emission intensity from 1990 levels.

QUOTES

"Meeting stakeholder expectations is job one. I don't think the average stakeholder expects us to be perfect, but what they do want to see is continuous improvement. So not only will we continue to invest in renewables, but we will continue to reduce water use, conduct faster land reclamation, and reduce our CO2 intensity per unit produced. These are all long-term goals that will actually never end. We're looking for continuous improvement and technology will help us drive that on a go-forward basis."

Rick George, CEO.

"(With TRO(TM)) the rest of this mine's life, Millennium and the North Steepbank Expansion, you can manage without building any more tailings ponds. This is a technology that is changing how we do business. It's a complete game changer for the industry. There now is a tool in the tool chest to actually do things like meet Directive 74, to get ahead of MFT (mature fine tailings) volumes, to minimize the number of ponds you have, minimize your terrestrial disturbance and we're doing it first and that's really exciting."

Bradley Wamboldt, Director, TRO(TM)

"Quite simply our commitment as a company going forward is to drive our water use down and conserve it across all of our operations. We've developed water management goals that we've embedded in all the businesses. At Oil Sands in particular, we've made some tremendous progress. Over the last four years, we're down on our absolute water use by about 22%."

Gordon Lambert, VP Sustainable Development

Table of Contents:

• About Suncor:
• What Guides Us
• Performance Goals & Progress
• Environment:
• Air Quality
• Water Management
• Land and Biodiversity
• Oil Sands Tailings Management
• Climate Change
• Renewable Energy
• Social
• Safety, Health and Security
• Social Responsibility
• Community Investment
• Economic
• Contribution to Economy
• Video Library
• Performance Measures
• Systemic Indicators
• Industry Benchmarking
• Performance Indicators

Suncor voluntarily reports to stakeholders on its environmental and social performance. In addition to the Report on Sustainability and regular website updates, Suncor has published a climate change report for more than 10 years. This year, the climate change report is incorporated into our Report on Sustainability.

Suncor has consistently been recognized by both the environmental and investment communities for excellence in reporting and for excellence in other areas. Complete details are available in the Report on Sustainability.

Suncor compiled the 2010 Report on Sustainability in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines - an internationally recognized standard in sustainability reporting. As in previous years, an independent third party verified a number of performance indicators. Suncor also enlisted the guidance of Ceres, a network of investors, environmental groups and other public interest groups in developing the report.

The web-based report, which incorporates text articles, photos, data tables, charts, graphs, and videos featuring Suncor employees and stakeholders, as well as a summary PDF document, is now available at www.suncor.com/sustainability or by calling 1-800-558-9071. Readers are encouraged to submit feedback on the report by visiting the website or emailing info@suncor.com. A printed magazine-style summary of the Report on Sustainability was mailed to stakeholders in late July.

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All forward-looking statements are based on Suncor's current expectations, estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statement was made and in light of Suncor's experience and its perception of historical trends.

Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expected," "anticipates," "approximately," "estimates," "plans," "scheduled," "intends," "may," "believes," "projects," "indicates," "could," "focus," "vision," "goal," "proposed," "target," "objective," "continue" and similar expressions. In addition, all other statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about our strategy for growth, costs, schedules, production volumes, operating and financial results and expected impact of future commitments, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include references to environmental performance goals, including reducing fresh water consumption by 12 per cent by 2015, increasing reclamation of disturbed land area by 100 per cent by 2015, improving energy efficiency by 10 per cent by 2015 and reducing air emissions by 10 per cent by 2015. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some that are similar to other oil and gas companies and some that are unique to our company. Suncor's actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on them.

Suncor's Earnings Release, Quarterly Report and Management's Discussion & Analysis for the second quarter of 2010 and its most recently filed Annual Information Form/Form 40-F, Annual Report to Shareholders and other documents it files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities describe the risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and such factors are incorporated herein by reference. Copies of these documents are available without charge from Suncor at 150 6th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 3Y7, by calling 1-800-558-9071, or by email request to info@suncor.com or by referring to the company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Except as required by applicable securities laws, Suncor disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Suncor Energy Inc. is Canada's premier integrated energy company. Suncor's operations include oil sands development and upgrading, conventional and offshore oil and gas production, petroleum refining, and product marketing under the Petro-Canada brand. While working to responsibly develop petroleum resources, Suncor is also developing a growing renewable energy portfolio. Suncor's common shares (symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.

For more information about Suncor Energy Inc. please visit our web site at www.suncor.com

To view the videos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY4cXQyvo2I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwlvG85QdA0

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20100816-SMR-image1-tailings_800.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20100816-SMR-image2-pond1_800.jpg

Suncor Energy Inc.

Suncor Energy Inc.

Suncor Energy is Canada's leading integrated energy company. Suncor's operations include oil sands development, production and upgrading; offshore oil and gas; petroleum refining in Canada and the U.S.; and the company's Petro-Canada retail and wholesale distribution networks (including Canada's Electric Highway™, a coast-to-coast network of fast-charging electric vehicle stations). Suncor is developing petroleum resources while advancing the transition to a low-emissions future through investment in power, renewable fuels and hydrogen. Suncor also conducts energy trading activities focused principally on the marketing and trading of crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products and power. Suncor has been recognized for its performance and transparent reporting on the Dow Jones Sustainability index, FTSE4Good and CDP. Suncor is also listed on the UN Global Compact 100 stock index. Suncor's common shares (symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

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