03:18 PM EDT, 05/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- It will be more than five years before Suncor Energy Inc. ( SU ) makes any significant investments to secure new bitumen supply, the Calgary-based oil company said Tuesday, The Canadian Press is reporting.

At a presentation for investors, the report noted, executives said they believe the company has a number of options when it comes to securing additional sources of bitumen to replace output from its Base Plant oilsands mine, and will take its time to evaluate them.

"To be crystal clear, there is no significant Base Mine bitumen replacement investment in the next five years," said Suncor's chief financial officer Kris Smith.

"Some early development spending will be starting in this time frame, but a significant spend will not be until towards the back end of the decade."

According to the report, the Calgary-based company has spent a number of years exploring options to sustain the supply of thick, sticky oilsands crude to its Base Plant upgrading facilities north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

Suncor's Base Plant has a production capacity of 350,000 barrels per day, according to the company's website, but its Base Plant mine is expected to be largely depleted by the mid-2030s, the report said.

To solve its supply problem, Suncor has proposed a new, 225,000 barrel-per-day, open-pit oilsands mine expansion, which would be located adjacent to its existing Base Plant operations, the report added.

Tuesday's report noted the company has said the project would take four to five years to construct, and could start production in the early to mid-2030s. However, it remains highly uncertain whether such a project would receive the go-ahead from regulators, the report said.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally, and/or from other media sources. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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