Marcel Coutu

Chairman - Syncrude Joint Venture

Marcel Coutu joined Canadian Oil Sands Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, as President and Chief Executive Officer in September 2001. Under his leadership, Canadian Oil Sands internalized management and has grown to become the largest owner in the Syncrude Joint Venture. In addition to providing guidance and direction to the Trust, Mr. Coutu is Chairman of the Board of Syncrude and chairs the Syncrude Joint Venture CEO and Management Committees.

Mr. Coutu has 25 years of experience in the resource and energy sector, primarily focused in corporate finance. Prior to joining Canadian Oil Sands, Mr. Coutu was Chief Financial Officer of Gulf Canada until its sale to Conoco. Preceding that position, he was Senior Vice President International and Vice President Finance at TransCanada Pipelines where he helped finance their mainline expansion and international projects. Mr. Coutu also has worked many years in the upstream sector for companies that include Hudson's Bay Oil & Gas and Dome Petroleum, and has five years of experience in the investment banking business, mostly with Burns Fry Limited.

Mr. Coutu holds a H.B.Sc. in geology from the University of Waterloo (1976), an MBA from the University of Western Ontario (1980), and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists (APEGGA). Mr. Coutu is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Calgary and the Calgary Stampede Pension Committee. As well, he is on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Originally from Welland, Ontario, Mr. Coutu now resides in Calgary with his wife and two children.

Rank:34

Age:55

Tenure:5 yrs., 9 mos.

Salary:$575 k

Bonus:$1.4 mil

Marcel Coutu was one CEO ahead of the curve when the federal government in April revealed its plan to cut 20% of emissions by 2020. In early March, he joined a climate-change task force of oil executives aiming to cut industry emissions. The Welland, Ont., native studied geology at the University of Waterloo and received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario in London in 1980. Apart from a five-year stint in investment banking, Coutu cemented his career in the oil and gas industry with senior positions at Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. and TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. Now CEO of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Coutu also chairs Syncrude Canada Ltd., one of the company's major subsidiaries. Looking ahead, the father of two plans to boost production of the Syncrude Alberta oilsands project to 500,000 barrels a day in a decade.