A fuel shortage is spreading across northern B.C., and last night a Prince Rupert gas station didn’t get its delivery.
Chevron on Second Avenue West is selling Supreme Plus gas at regular gas prices – 130.9L. The attendant at the station said they ran out yesterday. Down the street, 7-Eleven is also out of regular gas. Both PetroCanada in Grassy Bay and at Hays Cove are still stocked with regular fuel.
“For the time being it’s normal for us. We’re not going to experience a shortage,” said Chris Wilson, manager of the PetroCanada in Grassy Bay.
While the two PetroCanada stations receive their gas from Terrace, Chevron and 7-11 receive their gas from Prince George where the shortage began.
Earlier in the week, gas stations in Quesnel hung up signs notifying customers that they were temporally out of fuel.
The Petro-Canada station on Carson Avenue was out of fuel Monday afternoon, June 4, until Tuesday night at roughly 11 p.m. The owner said he had diesel only for most of Tuesday.
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“We normally get [fuel] from Prince George. We are working on getting a shipment daily. All I know is that they are trying to get us fuel and it’s a matter of where they can get it from to get it up here,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
Dan McTeague, the senior petroleum analyst for Gasbuddy.com, said the shortage is seen across the interior of B.C. and Alberta, and is linked to longer than expected maintenance at a Suncor refinery in Edmonton, Alberta. Suncor operates Petro-Canada.
“Much of the gas in your region is sent from there to the Petro-Canada terminal in Kamloops, then trucked to Quesnel,” he explains.
“At last report, the company was trying to source fuel from the U.S.”
McTeague says the temporary pump closures are expected to last some time, until Suncor gets its refinery operations up and running.
Suncor confirms it is experiencing a gasoline shortage.
“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,” said a spokesperson for Suncor.
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shannon.lough@thenorthernview.com
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