Petro-Canada gas stations will retain their well-recognized retail brand after the merger with Suncor Energy Inc.
Petro-Canada has more than 1,300 gasoline stations across Canada, while Suncor operates about 300 stations in Southern Ontario under the Sunoco brand.
When doing its review, the Competition Bureau will likely look into whether the merger will mean too much concentration in the southern Ontario market, Petro-Canada CEO Ron Brenneman told Business News Network on Tuesday.
“It would be extremely unusual for the competition bureau to nix a deal like this because of that really small component in the great scheme of things,” he said.
Roger McKnight, senior petroleum adviser for En-Pro International Inc., said he expects some Sunoco stations to be sold to quell competitive concerns.
“There will be some justification of sites when they’re both on the same corner. Whatever has the biggest volume or best image will stay, the other one will go,” he said.
Suncor will also likely expand its refining network after the merger, rather than shut down gasoline-production operations as some have feared, said McKnight.
Suncor, the oldest and second-largest oilsands producer, will need all of the refining capacity it can get once it takes on Petro-Canada’s future oilsands production, he said.
“Instead of refineries getting cut back or closed, they’ll actually expand, because of the increased potential of oilsands production. It’s got to go somewhere and it may as well stay in-house,” he said.
“I don’t see the refining situation getting worse for the consumer. I see it getting better.”
