Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Suncor Energy Inc., which bought Petro-Canada in August, plans to sell as much as C$4 billion ($3.7 billion) in assets to focus on developing northeastern Alberta’s oil sands.

The Calgary-based company will shed assets worth C$2 billion to C$4 billion, mostly in 2010, Chief Executive Officer Rick George said today on a conference call.

Gas fields in western Canada and the U.S. Rocky Mountains, North Sea assets and properties in Trinidad and Tobago may be sold, Suncor said in a statement.

Asset sales “are the right strategy, but the timing is going to be very tough because of the pricing environment and competition of other properties,” said Glenn MacNeill, who helps manage C$220 million at Lawrence Asset Management in Toronto.

U.S. gas storage levels are at a record, squeezing prices. Gas futures fell 3.2 percent to $4.628 per million British thermal units in New York today. EnCana Corp., Canada’s largest gas producer, plans to sell as much as $1 billion a year in assets.

The sales would amount to about 10 percent of Suncor’s production, Chief Executive Officer Rick George said on a conference call with analysts and investors today. Suncor produced the equivalent of 630,600 barrels of oil last quarter. The loss would be made up “quickly” by new projects, he said.

Cutting Debt

Proceeds from the sales could help Suncor reduce its debt to about C$10 billion from the current C$13.3 billion, which will be “largely achievable through 2010,” Chief Financial Officer Bart Demosky said on the call.

Suncor will update investors on Nov. 13 about the 2010 budget and in which order capital projects will be advanced. Suncor deferred decisions on the Voyageur upgrader and Firebag oil-sands facilities until after the completion of its C$19.6 billion takeover of Petro-Canada.

George said he is “happy” with Suncor’s 12 percent stake in oil-sands developer Syncrude Canada Ltd. and sees “more advantages” to keeping the interest than selling it.

Libya and Syria, both former Petro-Canada projects, are “fairly material,” George said when asked whether the company planned to exit those countries. He will visit Libya, where Suncor produces oil, in the next two weeks and wants to complete its Syrian gas project before deciding what to do with it, he said. The project is 90 percent finished and expected to start up next year, he said.

Suncor shares rose 3 cents to C$35.40 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sonja Franklin in Calgary at sfranklin6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 16:21 EST