Sunoco wins contract to serve Garden State Parkway

Sunoco Inc. has solidified its position as the King of the Toll Road.

The Philadelphia refiner will take over operations of nine fuel outlets along the Garden State Parkway, the only toll road in the region whose service stations were not already under Sunoco's control.

Sunoco announced Monday that it had reached an agreement with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which manages the 172-mile parkway, and Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc., the current service station operator. The six-year agreement runs through the end of December 2016.

The agreement comes less than three weeks after Sunoco won a contract to supply fuel along the Ohio Turnpike.

All told, Sunoco sells fuel on nine toll roads in the region, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike, New Jersey Turnpike, Atlantic City Expressway, New York Thruway, Palisades Parkway, Delaware Turnpike, and Maryland Turnpike.

Toll roads are attractive outlets for the fuel retailer because the customers have no other choices without exiting the highway.

"We have a strong position on toll roads," said Thomas P. Golembeski, Sunoco's spokesman.

It will take several months to rebrand the parkway service stations, which currently sell fuel under the Lukoil brand, Golembeski said.