HollyFrontier said to be in advanced talks to acquire Petro-Canada Lubricants

HollyFrontier Corp. is said to be in advanced talks to acquire Suncor Energy Inc.’s Petro-Canada lubricants business for more than USD1 billion. HollyFrontier submitted the highest bid in an auction, Reuters reported, although neither Suncor Energy nor HollyFrontier would confirm the Reuters report.

The auction for Petro-Canada’s lubricants business has attracted other companies and private equity firms.

Suncor Energy, Canada’s biggest energy company, merged with Petro-Canada in 2009. Petro-Canada, on the other hand, purchased its lubricants business from Gulf Canada in 1985. Petro-Canada’s lubricants business is based in Mississauga, Ont., Canada, near Toronto.

HollyFrontier Corp. is an independent U.S. petroleum refiner and marketer that produces high-value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other specialty products. HollyFrontier operates through its subsidiaries a 135,000 barrel per stream day (bpsd) refinery located in El Dorado, Kan., a 125,000 bpsd refinery in Tulsa, Okla., a 100,000 bpsd refinery located in Artesia, N.M., a 52,000 bpsd refinery located in Cheyenne, Wyo., and a 45,000 bpsd refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. HollyFrontier markets its refined products principally in the Southwest U.S., the Rocky Mountains extending into the Pacific Northwest and in other neighboring Plains states. It has a market capitalization of USD4.36 billion.