Ultramar is an Eastern Canadian gas and home fuel retailer, with its head office located in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Ultramar operates gas stations and home fuel delivery in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.

History

British oil company Ultramar plc established operations in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1961. Retail stations were originally branded "Golden Eagle".Ultramar: Our history
Its

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

in Lévis, Quebec was built ten years later. From 1979 to 1996, Ultramar grew by acquiring stations from several other companies, including Canadian fuel marketers

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

Canada,

Gulf Canada Gulf Canada was a Canadian integrated petroleum company that existed between 1944 and 2001. Gulf Oil, Gulf Oil Corporation began operating in Canada in 1942, and two years later formed a Canadian subsidiary called the Canadian Gulf Oil Company. In ...

, Sergaz,

Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transformed from a vertically integrated energy ...

and

Spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

. In 1981, Ultramar acquired

Hanford, California Hanford is the most populous city and the county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 57,990 at the 2020 United States census, ...

-based Beacon Oil Company. It retained the name. In 1990, it acquired the

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Dartmouth ( ) (Scottish Gaelic, Scottish-Gaelic: Baile nan Loch) is a Urban area, built-up community of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 101 ...

refinery with the purchase of other assets of

Canada. In 1991,

Lasmo Lasmo plc was a British oil and gas exploration and production business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The Company was founded in 1971 as London and Scottish Marine Oil (LASM ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

oil company, bought Ultramar plc and in 1992 Lasmo spun off the North American refining and marketing operations which became known as ''Ultramar Corporation''. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Ultramar acquired Sergaz (founded in 1971 by André Ducharme) and Sunoco's Quebec gas stations. Some gas stations still operate under Sergaz but most were closed. In 1996, Ultramar Corporation merged with Diamond Shamrock to form ''Ultramar Diamond Shamrock''. In

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, the Sunoco name was withdrawn from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and all stations converted to the Ultramar brand. The refinery in Lévis was renamed in honour of retired Ultramar Diamond Shamrock CEO Jean Gaulin in 2001. On December 31, 2001,

Valero Energy Corporation Valero Energy Corporation is an American-based Petroleum industry, fuels producer mostly involved in manufacturing and marketing transportation fuels and other petrochemical, related products. It is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, United ...

completed its acquisition of Ultramar Diamond Shamrock. On May 1, 2013, Ultramar was spun off from Valero into

CST Brands CST Brands, Inc. was an American publicly traded fuel and convenience retailer. It was the second-largest of its kind in North America, with 1,900 outlets in the U.S. and Canada. CST Brands had 2013 revenues of about $12.8 billion and made approxi ...

. Following the 2016 purchase of CST by

Alimentation Couche-Tard Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., or simply Couche-Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. The company operates approximately 16,700 stores across Canada, the United States of America, United States, Mexico, Ireland, Norway ...

, the Ultramar brand and most of CST's Canadian assets were acquired by Parkland Fuel. Couche-Tard retained 36 Ultramar stations in Atlantic Canada. In June 2018, Couche-Tard and its partner Irving Oil announced that these stations would become Circle K locations with Irving as fuel supplier, and that 13 of them would be sold to Irving outright—with Couche-Tard operating them under a lease as with most other Irving locations. In October 2019, Ultramar became part of Parkland's new national

loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

Journie.

Operations

Ultramar was also active in industrial sales and wholesale supply.

Statistics

Ultramar had 983 service stations, 87 truck stop facilities and 169,000 home

heating oil Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; it is a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often ...

customers. It directly employed 3,600 people and indirectly employed 10,000. The refinery in Lévis produced 265,000 barrels (or 41.5 million litres) per day.

References

External links

* {{official, www.ultramar.ca Oil companies of Canada Companies based in Montreal Automotive fuel retailers Retail companies established in 1961 British brands Canadian brands Gas stations in Canada Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies 1991 mergers and acquisitions 1996 mergers and acquisitions 2001 mergers and acquisitions 2013 mergers and acquisitions 2016 mergers and acquisitions