CEO of Canada’s Suncor Energy steps down after latest site fatality
By Abinaya V and Nia Williams
(Reuters) -Suncor Power Inc stated on Friday its chief govt, Mark Little, has stepped down after a string of fatalities at Canada’s third-largest oil producer.
Little was additionally stepping down as president and resigning from the board efficient instantly, the Calgary, Alberta-based firm stated in a press release https://sustainability-prd-cdn.suncor.com/-/media/challenge/suncor/recordsdata/news-releases/2022/2022-07-08-suncor-energy-announces-ceo-transition-en.pdf?modified=20220708225627&_ga=2.68797265.116328003.1657326315-1599808855.1657326315.
Kris Smith, the corporate’s govt vice chairman of downstream will substitute Little as interim CEO, whereas the board launches a seek for a everlasting substitute.
Little’s resignation comes a day after a employee was killed at Suncor’s oil sands base plant in northern Alberta. It was the second fatality at a Suncor website this 12 months and the thirteenth since 2014.
“Suncor is dedicated to attaining security and operational excellence throughout our enterprise, and we should acknowledge the place we have now fallen quick and acknowledge the important want for change,” board chair Michael Wilson stated in a press release.
Little, who turned Suncor CEO in 2019 after serving as chief working officer, has been below stress to repair security and operational points. He informed buyers in February he took full duty for fatalities on Suncor websites and vowed to enhance operations.
In April U.S.-based activist funding agency Elliot Administration disclosed a 3.4% stake in Suncor and urged the corporate to put in new board administrators, overhaul administration and start a strategic overview, noting that Suncor’s share worth was lagging its friends.
Elliot’s public criticism elevated scrutiny of Little’s efficiency as chief govt.
In 2020 Suncor was overtaken by rival Canadian Pure Assets Ltd as Canada’s most precious vitality firm.
Along with the fatalities, the corporate disillusioned buyers by making a significant dividend lower in 2020, repeatedly lacking manufacturing steerage and operating into operational points at its new Fort Hills oil sands mine which have delayed the challenge reaching full manufacturing capability.
(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Sandra Maler and William Mallard)
