An interesting note in the financial statements was the news that in September Suncor become the first oil sands company to complete surface reclamation of a tailings pond, a key step in returning the site back to nature.

FORBES: Buy Suncor for growth

It has been widely reported in the Canadian media that oil sands company Suncor admitted to a leak of 1, 600 sq m from its Tar Island Pond 1 tailings pond in 1997, although a current spokesman for Suncor says he does not have any information about the incident.

BBC: Canada's 'dirty oil' challenge