John Catsimatidis, who formed United Refining Energy, said that in an interview with Bloomberg News.
The refinery is set to close on July 1st if a buyer isn't found.
Catsimatidis told Bloomberg News that he will decide this month if he will make an offer on the plant.
One analyst said the refinery may be a bargain at $400 million since Sunoco was planning on shutting down the refinery.
Sunoco, which owns three plants on the U.S. East Coast and announced plans to exit refining in September, lost $1.68 billion in 2011 as the profit margin for turning oil into fuel shrunk to the lowest point since 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Philadelphia plant is Sunoco's only operating refinery.
United Refining operates a 70,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Pennsylvania.
