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Rick George, former CEO of Suncor.

Rick George, the former Suncor Energy Inc. chief executive officer who played a key role in transforming Canada's oil sands from a money-losing engineering experiment into one of the world's largest sources of oil production, has died after being stricken with leukemia, his family said. He was 67.

Mr. George was CEO of Suncor from 1991 to 2012, a period in which he took a new look at unreliable operations north of Fort McMurray, Alta., modernized production and processing techniques, then invested billions of dollars to expand it into a business that now pumps nearly half a million barrels a day.

The U.S.-born oilman was also a respected business voice on the national stage and passionate defender of the industry's actions in trying to clean up its environmental performance and image.

That position occasionally put him at odds with environmentalists at a time when debate over the impact of the oil sands was becoming heated in Canada and around the world.

"When he came in the early nineties, he had a vision about the oil sands business and he always was pretty unstoppable when he had a vision," said long-time friend and business colleague Bill Friley.

"He really changed the face of that industry within the energy sector in Canada." Until then, the oil sands had been operated with a similar philosophy as conventional oil and, according to Mr. George's memoirs, crews spent a lot of their time fixing equipment and extinguishing fires. He said it often cost $20 to produce a barrel of oil that sold for $12.

He approached it as a mining and manufacturing exercise, including replacing bucket-wheels that scraped the side of the mine with massive and easily deployed dump trucks and shovels, boosting efficiency and pushing the industry into the modern era, Mr. Friley said.

"His vision of that business and its ability to be economic really is legendary and he can take an awful lot of the credit for moving it forward to be one of the pre-eminent businesses in the country."

Mr. George had suffered from acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, over the past 18 months, his family said.

"As we mourn the loss of the man who has inspired our family with his love, humour, vision, integrity, and infectious positivity, we also want to thank our many friends and extended family for your care and concern," they said in a statement.

Mr. George was born in Brush, Colo., and spent his early career working at Texaco and Sun Oil Co., the latter of which had an ownership stake in Suncor along with the Ontario government. The company had established the first oil sands plant in the 1960s.

An engineer with a law degree, he led billions of dollars worth of expansions at Suncor during the 1990s and 2000s, while investing in environmental initiatives such as wind farms and rain-forest conservation. He also masterminded the company's $18.3-billion takeover of Petro-Canada in 2009, the country's largest oil deal to date.

Mr. George had said he was thwarted in his goal to buy the one-time Crown corporation in the late 1990s when the target's board balked. But he got another chance a decade later when Petro-Canada's shares were chronically weak. The timing could not have been trickier, as negotiations took place just as the global financial crisis hit.

After leaving Suncor, Mr. George kept his attentions in the oil patch, becoming chairman of Penn West Petroleum – now known as Obsidian Energy Ltd. – and signing on as chairman of Osum Oil Sands.

He also wrote a book titled Sun Rise about his experiences as one of Canada's best-known business leaders and an influential voice on energy development. In it, he summed up his career and his belief in the resources and technology that the industry employs in becoming larger and more efficient.

"This has been a story of many things, almost all of them big – big bets, big expenditures, big developments and, especially, big challenges," he wrote. "I have faith in the skills and determination of people in and out of the industry to find new ways to meet these challenges with technological breakthroughs. The scope and number of the advances I witnessed over my career are beyond counting."

In the business world, Mr. George set himself apart with an ability to drop his authority and listen to others to arrive at the best idea, veteran Calgary investment banker Mike Tims said.

"This approach to management shows both humility and an understanding of people, and it often leads to better results and to a more pleasant and rewarding experience for all involved," Mr. Tims said.

Mr. George and his family became Canadian citizens in 1996 and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007.

"Rick's impact on the oil sands industry, the Canadian business community, and the broader community has been immeasurable," said Steve Williams, who replaced Mr. George as Suncor's CEO. "His contributions have been significant and far-reaching."

Mr. George leaves his wife, Julie, and their children Matthew, Zachary and Emily.

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