Svea Herbst,Bayliss and Nia Williams

(Reuters] – Mark Little, chief executive at Suncor Energy in Canada (NYSE:), gave a mea culpa three months back.

Two trucks crashed into an Alberta oil sands mining site in January, killing one. Suncor has the lowest safety record in Canada with respect to on-the job fatalities since 2014, at 12

Little said, “I own that,” during an earnings call back in February. Now, those words come back to haunt him.

Suncor’s January accident, the latest in a long line of operations at Suncor sites. Investor dissatisfaction was further heightened by a large 2020 dividend cut.

U.S.-based investment firm Elliott Management saw a potential and purchased a 3.4% stake in Suncor. According to the hedge fund, it requested that a small number of directors be added to the board. It also asked for management and strategic reviews.

According to sources, Elliott is well known for pushing companies towards better operations. Sources say he will meet privately with Suncor next Wednesday.

Elliott’s decision is raising questions about Little’s performance in his role as CEO. He assumed this position in 2019, after having served as chief operating officer since December 2017.

Bay Street won’t give Suncor the benefit of doubt, my feeling,” stated Laura Lau, Chief Investment Officer at Brompton, Suncor shareholder.

“Will they (shareholders), give Mark Little time?” That’s all I know. Lau stated that there are still questions as to whether or not he is right for the future.”

Elliott didn’t mention Little in its Suncor letter, but stated that the board should be accountable for ensuring that a team of management is in place to deliver exceptional operating and safety performance.

Suncor reports quarterly earnings Monday. Suncor didn’t respond to our request for comment.

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Suncor, North America’s largest refining company and leading Canadian fuel retailer is North America’s most profitable marketing and refining company per barrel. It has missed production targets and not met its 2018 pledge to provide up to C$2Billion ($1.6 Billion) in free funds flow improvements by 2023. Instead, it has pushed that goal out to 2025.

Little, 57 years old, rose to the top after joining Suncor 2008, and had previously worked as an Imperial Oil (NYSE 🙂 employee and majority owner Exxon Mobil (NYSE:). Canadian industry leaders claim that Suncor’s current operational difficulties are the result of a drive to automate as many operations as possible. This makes Suncor less agile when things go wrong.

One former Suncor worker who knew Little said that he was well liked, bright and brilliant, but is all about the procedures.

Because he continues to consult in the sector, the source chose not to identify himself.

Elliott has been pushing to fire top executives from companies like Twitter (NYSE :), Marathon Petroleum (NYSE 🙂 and eBay. The company launched 17 new campaigns in 2021 and gained 11 board seats in the last year. They are well known for their ability to direct strategy from within the boardroom.

Elliott refused to comment on this story.

Suncor’s poor stock performance can be traced back at the beginning of the pandemic, when it was faced with falling crude prices and decided to halve its dividend while Canadian Natural (NYSE) Resources Ltd maintained the payout.

Canadian Natural’s low share price enabled it to take over Suncor Canada’s top-rated energy company for 2020.

After that came another string of issues at Suncor’s oil sands refineries and oil sands, with the most notable being last July’s revelations about a crucial slope at Fort Hills Mine, which began operating in 2018. This was an unstable slope and needed to be fixed before full production can ramp up.

According to company records, Little was able to earn 127% of the 2021 annual bonus opportunity, while also earning 74% for 2020. Elliott claimed in a presentation that compensation levels for CEOs have been low over recent years, which suggests that management is not being held accountable.

Matt Murphy, an analyst at Tudor Pickering Holt Calgary, stated that there has been frustration from investors over the past two years.