Management comments on dividends etcThink about these commentsrecently made by management and I think you will gain a better perspective of what they think and why.
Based on our 2011 Outlook sensitivities, achieving design capacity raises
our cash flow estimate to over $5.20 per share, for a total of about $2.5
billion at US$95 per barrel WTI.
Bitumen productive capacity expected to grow by 50%, reaching 600,000
bbls/d before 2020
We intend to continue paying a quarterly dividend with the amount varying
depending largely on crude oil prices and the investment cycle of Syncrude’s
projects.
Irrespective of timing, we maintain the discipline of paying out the cash.
•We do not direct our cash to other projects and cash on the balance sheet
is available for dividends when we do not need the cash in our business
It reflects our strong cash generating ability under most circumstances and
our discipline of paying out our excess cash to investors