company in Canada (after Royal Bank of Canada) in terms of market capitalization. In December 2009, as a condition of the merger, Suncor sold 98 gas stations in Ontario to Husky Energy, consisting of 68 Sunoco-branded locations and 30 Petro-Canada-branded locations. In 2015 Suncor courted Canadian Oil Sands, the largest owner of the Syncrude project with 37% ownership (compared with Suncor's 12%), with proposals for acquisition and hostile takeover. In January 2016 they reached an agreement with Suncor acquiring COS for C$6.6 billion, raising its Syncrude ownership to 49%. On April 27, 2016, Suncor announced that it had reached a $937-million deal to acquire Murphy Oil's five-per-cent stake in the Syncrude project, growing its interest in Syncrude to nearly 54 per cent, making it the majority shareholder of the project. In fall 2021, Suncor assumed operatorship of the Syncrude Joint Venture oil sands project in a bid to improve its performance. Suncor holds a majority stake in Syncrude with 58.74 per cent. In July 2022, president and CEO Mark Little resigned amid investor pressure and after a series of workplace deaths and safety incidents. Executive vice-president for downstream Kris Smith was named as interim CEO. On February 21, 2023, Suncor announced that former Imperial Oil Ltd. president and CEO Richard Kruger had been named its new chief executive officer after a months-long search. Kruger will replace interim Suncor CEO Kris Smith on April 3, 2023. Smith will assume the role of chief financial officer and executive vice-president of corporate development after Suncor's annual general meeting on May 9, 2023. Operations In North America, Suncor develops and produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada, Colorado, and offshore drilling in eastern Canada. Its international efforts include offshore developments in the North Sea, and conventional, land-based efforts in Libya, Syria, and Trinidad and Tobago. Suncor operates refineries in Edmonton, Alberta; Sarnia, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec and Commerce City, Colorado. These refineries supply industrial, retail and commercial consumers. The company is also one of the largest Canadian retailers of petroleum products. Bitumen, oil and natural gas production Suncor is the world's largest producer of bitumen, and owns and operates an oil sands upgrading plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Originally developed by Great Canadian Oil Sands, a majority-owned subsidiary of Sun Oil, it is now wholly owned by the independent Suncor. It was the first commercial development on the Athabasca oil sands, although small,