Suncor Energy sees 13 percent rise in fourth-quarter upstream output

(Reuters) - Suncor Energy Inc said on Monday it expects total upstream production to rise by about 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, helped by higher output from its majority-owned Syncrude oil project in northern Alberta. The company expects total upstream production of 831,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), up from 736,400 boe/d in the fourth quarter of 2017. Production from Syncrude alone was 355,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) for the quarter. Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams said the company's newest oil sands project, Fort Hills, completed its production ramp up ahead of schedule and exceeded its forecast of 90 percent utilization for the quarter. The Calgary, Alberta-based company also said demand for refined products remained strong during the quarter with crude throughput of 468,000 bbls/d compared to 433,000 bbls/d in the year-ago quarter. (Reporting by Shanti S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and James Emmanuel)