Suncor sees first-quarter Syncrude production hit on maintenance work

(Reuters) - Canada's Suncor Energy Inc said on Wednesday the Syncrude oil sands project in northern Alberta would run at reduced rates in the first quarter, as maintenance work to fix an "issue" has been brought forward by about a month.

Suncor, which holds the majority stake in the Syncrude joint venture project, now expects production of 140,000 barrels of oil per day (bbls/d) from the project in the first quarter, compared with 142,100 bbls/d a year earlier.

Advancing the eight-week maintenance, which was scheduled to begin in April, will help the company to address an issue which was constraining capacity, Suncor said.

The company maintained its overall production guidance for the year.

(Reporting by Anirban Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)