Petro-Canada to seek repeal of shareholder limits

OTTAWA, March 24 (Reuters) - Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) and Petro-Canada PCA.TO have agreed in their merger accord to try to get the government to support a repeal of the federal law that limits how big a stake in Petro-Canada a single shareholder can own.

"The parties covenant and agree that they shall cooperate and use their reasonable commercial efforts to obtain a commitment from the Government of Canada to support a repeal of the Petro-Canada Act," they said in a filing dated March 22.

Meantime, the companies have agreed that the Petro-Canada Act, which limits individual shareholdings to 20 percent, would apply to the merged entity. The companies announced their C$18.4 billion ($15.1 billion) merger on Monday.

($1=$1.22 Canadian) (Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Peter Galloway)