Suncor’s new CEO Steve Williams aims for 8% annual growth, sticks to plan

Qatar may raise its exposure to Western Canadian natural gas as the gas giant targets North American assets to offset plateauing domestic natural gas production and participate in one of the world’s biggest oil and gas plays. U.K.-based Centrica Plc and state-owned Qatar Petroleum International’s joint venture bought Suncor Energy Inc.’s conventional gas assets for $1-billion on Monday. The deal is the first of Centrica’s 60:40 agreement with the world’s largest natural gas producer to pursue international assets in 2011.

British Columbia’s deep-rooted environmentalism is about to get a much stronger counterpoint as a growing number of energy giants establish a corporate presence on the West Coast. Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Petronas, BG Group, Enbridge Inc., TransCanada Corp., Kinder Morgan have opened offices, are expanding or are planning to set up offices in Vancouver or nearby to oversee the planning of liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants on the northern coast, build pipelines, talk up the benefits of energy development to policy makers, communities and First Nations.

CALGARY — After months of uncertainty, market and industry players expressed relief Friday that Canada has approved two watershed energy takeovers by foreign state-controlled enterprises, even if the public backlash they stirred will mean tougher rules in the future and a new prohibition on such takeovers in the oilsands.

OTTAWA • With a long learning curve ahead of him, Stephen Poloz will need to turn to the Bank of Canada’s No. 2 policymaker for support when he takes the helm in June. But will senior deputy governor Tiff Macklem, snubbed by the institution he so dearly wanted to lead, be around much longer to lend a hand? Mr. Poloz, 57, was named Thursday as the next central bank governor, replacing Mark Carney who is leaving to head the Bank of England.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak asked his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper to reverse the initial rejection of Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s $5.2-billion takeover of Progress Energy Resources Corp., correspondence between the two leaders shows.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. took a hit on Wednesday after the company’s fourth quarter earnings missed analyst estimates and it took a $1.5-billion charge related to the Voyageur upgrader project. The selling pressure is also likely due to Suncor’s announcement that it recently received a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency relating to the income tax treatment of losses incurred in 2007 on the settlement of old Petro-Canada derivatives contracts.

By Stone Fox Capital:In a rare move, Williams Companies (WMB) has been forecasting substantial dividend growth through 2014. Typically management teams prefer to keep dividend increases under wraps in order to 'surprise' the market with increases and generally temper expectations.

ByCatalyst Investments: Divesting Assets