Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the largest stakeholder in the project, said, "The best current estimate from Syncrude is that the project will reach mechanical completion in early 2006, rather than mid-2005, and be in service by mid-2006." The extended completion date is expected to increase total capital costs to about $7.8 billion (Can.) compared with the $5.7 billion estimate made in September 2002. Marcel Coutu, Canadian Oil Sands president and CEO, commented, "Canadian Oil Sands is extremely disappointed in the extended completion outlook provided by Syncrude and surprised by the magnitude of the capital cost increase for the Stage 3 project. Significant reorganization and forward plans are being implemented as a result of this new information. "It is only fortuitous that this setback is occurring during a period of robust crude oil prices, which may prevail for some time and should help Canadian Oil Sands continue to fund much of its share of this project from cash flow," Coutu said.