Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil company, said third-quarter profit rose 14 percent, even after crude prices tumbled, reflecting its acquisition of Calgary-based rival Petro-Canada. The company expects asset sales of C$2 billion to C$4 billion, mostly next year.

Net income increased to C$929 million ($873 million) from C$815 million a year earlier, the Calgary-based company said today in a statement. Per-share profit fell to 74 cents from 86 cents as the number of shares outstanding increased. Excluding one-time items such as changes in the value of commodity derivatives, profit was 23 cents a share, missing by 5 cents the average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Suncor in August completed its C$19.2 billion purchase of Petro-Canada, the biggest Canadian energy takeover ever. The transaction is expected to save more than C$1 billion in capital costs and C$300 million in operational expenditures a year, Suncor said. Revenue was little changed at C$8.44 billion.

“This was a milestone quarter in Suncor’s history and a very productive one,” Chief Executive Officer Rick George said in the statement. “The integration work we’ve completed in just a little over three months is already yielding some significant efficiencies.”

George plans to sell some natural-gas assets by the end of next year to focus on crude projects including Alberta’s oil sands. Planned disposals are scheduled for Western Canada, the U.S. Rockies, Trinidad and Tobago and the North Sea, Suncor said today.

2010 Asset Sales

George said today on a conference call that he expects C$2 billion to C$4 billion in asset sales, mostly in 2010. The sales would equal about 10 percent of production and would help cut debt, he said.

In today’s results, the first quarterly earnings that include Petro-Canada, Suncor’s profit climbed even after New York oil prices averaged 42 percent lower in the quarter and gas slipped 62 percent.

Suncor said production in August and September of 2009, which includes the Petro-Canada output, averaged the equivalent of 630,600 barrels of oil a day. Suncor’s legacy assets produced 339,900 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the third quarter, a 21 percent increase from the same period in 2008, boosted by higher oil-sands output.

Shares Rise

Suncor rose 3 cents to C$35.40 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock has jumped 49 percent this year.

About 42 percent of Suncor’s output comes from the oil sands, the world’s biggest crude reserves after Saudi Arabia’s. The tar-like sands are located about 750 kilometers (466 miles) north of Calgary. Output from the oil sands may almost double to 2.2 million barrels a day by 2015, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates.

Oil-sands producers have been facing increased protests from environmental activists over concerns of greenhouse-gas emissions. Greenpeace International activists in September entered Suncor’s main tar-sands mine to disrupt production of what they call “dirty” crude. Two weeks earlier, Greenpeace protesters temporarily blocked a similar site run by Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Greenpeace alleges greenhouse-gas emissions from the oil sands may reach 140 million tons a year by 2020, exceeding the current levels of countries such as Ireland and Portugal. Shell says the oil sands produce just 5 percent to 15 percent more carbon dioxide than conventional wells.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sonja Franklin in Calgary at sfranklin6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 16:20 EST