A number of Calgary motorists trying to fuel up found themselves running on fumes as temporary shortages continued to plague gas stations across the city Saturday.
Filling up the tank became a game of chance for many drivers.
Several stations were completely out of fuel, while others were out of certain grades of gas. Lineups plagued gas bars running at full capacity.
"I've never seen three cars waiting for a pump before," said Melchor Dalvo of Chestermere, filling up in the northeast.
Like many other motorists in Calgary, Dalvo said he's taking the situation in stride.
Motorist Tim Halfyard had to move on to another station after his first choice ran dry Saturday.
"It usually would have been more convenient. Now I have to backtrack a little bit to get to work," he said.
Dozens of gas stations across the city were hit by shortages after two Edmonton-area refineries were shut down by a severe storm in mid-July.
Although both refineries have since resumed operations, the situation came at the peak of summer driving season. Petro-Canada and Imperial Oil have been working to replenish gas stations that ran dry. But the situation only worsened as motorists hit the highways for the long weekend.
"It will take time," said Petro-Canada spokeswoman Sneh Seetal.
"We're pulling out all the stops over the weekend to get product to our customers."
As many as 50 Petro-Canada stations have been hit by the temporary shortages.
"The situation is fluid. We continue to deliver product to our customers and sites. So the temporary run-outs rotate depending on how much product a site has at any given time," said Seetal.
Suppliers aren't able to say when product delivery will resume normal levels.
Seetal said Petro-Canada is taking the situation seriously and hopes to have service resumed as soon as possible. The company is managing the gas supply to allocate gas to stations across the province and is also bringing in fuel from outside the region, she said.
Imperial Oil's Pius Rolheiser said he believed any stations that run out of gas will have only a "short-lived" shortage.
"We have the supply. It takes some time to get the product back to those who need it," he said.
The temporary hit to Imperial's refinery has had a ripple effect on supply to retail centres, Rolheiser said.
Imperial's refinery supplies gas stations across Western Canada and it is not just Alberta sites that are experiencing some problems.
When asked how long it would take to restock all gas stations, he would not give a timeline.
"If people come to a site that doesn't have the product they need, simply drive down the road," he said.
It's a common-sense approach that motorist Aldo DeGeorges already follows.
"I know a lot of stations, so if we can't find a station, we'll just go from one to the other," he said.
"So far, so good."
Calgary's emergency responders, including ambulances and firefighters, rely on diesel.
"Bottom line, anywhere diesel is available, we fill up on a 24-hour basis," said Calgary EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux.
"As a matter of habit, we don't allow the ambulance to get below half a tank."
As of Saturday, there were no reported issues of gas shortage problems for ambulances, he said.
Most Calgary police vehicles use gasoline. A spokesman wouldn't say if the cars have been affected by the shortage, saying there are contingency plans in place if necessary.
By Jamie Komarnicki and Chuck Chiang, Calgary Herald
No comments:
Post a Comment