The Competition Bureau of Canada late last week approved Husky Energy Inc.’s acquisition of 98 retail gas stations in Southern Ontario from Suncor Energy Inc. and Suncor Energy Products Inc., as part of the remedy resolving the bureau’s concerns associated with the merger of Suncor and Petro-Canada.

Husky will acquire the stations under the terms of a consent agreement between the Competition Bureau and Suncor and Petro-Canada signed in July. The bureau required Suncor to divest 104 retail gas stations located in the Southern Ontario markets after concluding that the merger would have substantially lessened competition. Of the other six stations, arrangements are in place for two, and the sale process for the remaining four is ongoing.

“We believe that Husky’s expanded market presence is a positive development,” said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. “This sale will preserve competition for retail gasoline in Southern Ontario markets.”

In addition to the obligation to sell 104 retail stations, the consent agreement required Suncor to supply 1.1 billion liters of terminal and distribution capacity for refined petroleum products in the Greater Toronto area for a period of 10 years. Ultramar Ltd. was approved as the acquirer of terminal storage and distribution capacity in August.