Rich Kruger, the head of the Calgary-based oilsands giant, said the company only sends between 60 to 65 per cent of its oil across the U.S. border, suggesting it is less dependent on American buyers than other Canadian producers. Suncor also refines and upgrades a lot of its heavier crudes into lighter products, Kruger said in a conference call with analysts Thursday, providing a “natural hedge” against trade rifts. (The Logic)

Talking point: The Trump administration’s threat to place 10 per cent tariffs on Canadian energy exports could throw Canada’s oil and gas sector into an existential crisis, as it is heavily reliant on U.S. companies to refine its crude. Suncor upgrades much of its own oil in Alberta, however, and given its ownership of a refinery in Sarnia, Ont., and other downstream assets, it has greater access to non-U.S. markets than other producers. “Among our peers, we have more capacity to get crude off of either coast,” Kruger told analysts. “That integrated nature of our asset base gives us more resiliency.” In November, more than 90 per cent of Canada’s oil exports went to the U.S.