The fuel shortage spreading across the B.C. Interior has so far had only a small impact on Terrace.
Tempo Gas station in Terrace ran out of fuel on Friday but received a shipment on Monday. According to an attendant the station gets its gas supply from a Co-op refinery in Vanderhoof. Other stations in Terrace including Petro, Esso and Shell have all reported no shortages.
A truck driver at one of the stations in Terrace said there has been no allocation over the past week from the Husky refinery in Prince George because of an issue at the refinery. He speculated that Terrace shouldn’t expect to be affected as much as other areas in the region.
A Chevron station in Prince Rupert didn’t get its delivery on Wednesday evening, so it was selling Supreme Plus gas at regular prices – 130.9 cents a litre. The attendant said they ran out of fuel the day before. A nearby 7-Eleven was also out of regular gas.
A Petro-Canada station in Quesnel hung up signs notifying customers they were temporally out of fuel on Monday through until late Tuesday evening. The owner said he had diesel only for most of Tuesday.
A Chevron station in Smithers was also out of regular fuel on Monday night.
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Dan McTeague, the senior petroleum analyst for Gasbuddy.com, said the shortage is linked to longer than expected maintenance at a Suncor refinery in Edmonton. Suncor operates Petro-Canada, making up 25 per cent of all oil refined in Western Canada.
“Much of the gas in [the] region is sent from there to the Petro-Canada terminal in Kamloops,” McTeague said.
“At last report, the company was trying to source fuel from the U.S.”
Suncor spokesperson Nicole Fisher said in an email: “We understand that this is an inconvenience for our customers and we apologize. We are doing everything we can to minimize the impact, including sourcing additional supply.”
Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island gas stations won’t be affected, McTeague said, as that fuel come from the Parkland refinery in Burnaby as well as one in Washington State.
McTeague says the temporary pump closures could last into mid-June.
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In the meantime, McTeague says drivers can expect rotating gas shortages as the fuel is spread evenly to local stations, but prices should not be drastically affected.
shannon.lough@thenorthernview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
