CALGARY, Alberta -- Despite reports to the contrary, Suncor Energy Inc.’s Petro-Canada gas station and convenience-store chain is not part of the oil producer’s asset sale plan as the business seeks diversification and looks to monetize assets, according to a Bloomberg report.
“Retail is part of our integrated model as it provides a channel of sale for much of our refinery production,” Suncor spokesperson Sneh Seetal told Bloomberg, responding to questions following a report by Reuters that the Canadian oil company is weighing a sale of the business.
Calgary, Alberta-based Suncor has considered a sale of the retail business and “retains it as an option,” CEO Steve Williams said in a conference call with analysts in April. The company has sold about $4.5 billion ($3.4 billion U.S.) of “non-core assets” since its merger with Petro-Canada in 2009 and earlier this year targeted as much as $1.5 billion ($1.14 billion U.S.) in asset sales over the next year.
“That is clearly a possibility for integrated oil companies to do that,” Williams said at the time. “It’s not at the top of our list in terms of what we want to do because we see it as business which is contributing.”
The decision comes after Imperial Oil Ltd., majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., agreed earlier this year to sell approximately 500 company-owned Esso gas stations for $2.8 billion ($2.11 billion U.S.) to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., 7-Eleven Canada Inc., Harnois Groupe Pétrolier, Parkland Fuel Corp. and Wilson Fuel Co. Ltd.
Suncor may be able to draw a similar valuation, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters late last week, which would price the Petro-Canada retail gas stations at close to $8.4 billion ($6.4 billion U.S.).
Calgary-based Petro-Canada operates about 1,500 gas stations and convenience stores and 280 Petro-Pass wholesale locations nationwide.
Suncor Energy is a major Canadian integrated energy company. Its operations include oil sands development and upgrading, onshore and offshore oil and gas production, petroleum refining and petroleum product marketing.
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