EKOS Communications, Inc.

Earlier this week, Suncor and Petro-Canada announced plans to merger. This action will create Canada's largest oil company - almost big enough to join the ranks of the four largest independent oil companies consisting of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP. At one time, these four stood with three others and were collectively known as the Seven Sisters. But tough, competitive times have forced mergers and takeovers, reducing their number.

But if you think that the remaining four are the world's heavy-weights when it comes to oil production, guess again.

Since the 1970s, new names in the global oil patches have been appearing: China National Petroleum Company, Petrobras, Lukoil Petronas and many others. These are national oil companies owned not by shareholders, but by governments and they enjoy several distinct competitive advantages over the independent oil companies. According to Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist for ARC Financial Corporation and author of "A Thousand Barrels A Second", these advantages include not having the quarterly shareholder pressures that place near-term profits over longer-term gains and not being as bound by codes of conduct whether for human rights or environmental protection.

It's a shame that this made-in-Canada merger will just about wipe out a grand vision once embodied within Petro-Canada. It was created by the Trudeau government in 1975 and founded on nationalistic ideas. Had successive governments recognized the growing might of national oil companies and the importance of the geo-politics that surrounds them, perhaps Canada would have a strong national oil company as well, but one that stood out for its social and environmental responsibility. But for the time being, that vision is all but dead.