Canada's Syncrude oil facility ramps up output after disruption -sources

By Devika Krishna Kumar and Rod Nickel

(Reuters) - Canada's Syncrude oil sands facility has ramped up production after a disruption last week due to operational problems, three market sources said on Thursday.

Syncrude is a joint venture, majority owned by Suncor Energy Inc, with minority stakes held by Imperial Oil Ltd and others. It can produce up to 360,000 barrels per day, upgrading thick bitumen to light oil.

The facility planned to reduce December production by a total of 1.6 million barrels due to the operational problems, three market sources told Reuters last week.

Syncrude has restored about half of that 1.6 million-barrel cut, one of the sources said.

A Suncor spokeswoman declined to comment.

Representatives for Syncrude and Imperial could not be immediately reached for comment.

The increase in production pushed the discount for light synthetic crude from the oil sands compared to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) wider, to about $3.50 a barrel on Thursday, traders said.

Light synthetic crude settled at $2.85 below WTI on Wednesday, according to NE2 Canada Inc.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Marguerita Choy)