Most Regina Petro-Canada stations out of gas
If you fill up at Petro-Canada stations, putting gas in your tank might be challenging for the next few days.
Most Petro-Can stations in Regina ran out of all grades of gas on Monday morning.
The Fort McMurray wildfires and an unplanned outage at a refinery in Edmonton are blamed for the shortage.
“We do have a team that is working quickly to make the necessary repair, and bring that unit back into service as promptly and safely as possible,” said Sneh Seetal, a spokeswoman for Suncor Energy, the parent company to Petro-Can.
Stations across Manitoba, Alberta and B.C. have also been affected.
“Last Tuesday, a number of (Petro-Can) stations shut down, and put its stations under allocation — which means fuel is rationed, and don’t expect anything until we can get to you,” said Dan McTeague, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com.
Seetal said Suncor is trying to get gasoline and diesel to as many locations as possible, by truck and rail, from its own network and third parties.
“We are doing our best to treat as many of those critical locations equitably, and to the best of our abilities.
“We’re communicating directly with our retailers on the situation as well,” she said.
Some communities have been labelled “critical.”
“Areas like Fort McMurray are taking precedence in receiving gasoline and diesel, because there are no other outlets to supply the materials to residents,” said Seetal.
Although competing stations may feel the effects of the shortage, McTeague said there is no cause for concern.
“Don’t panic,” said McTeague. “There is enough supply to go around. If you can’t get gas at one station, then go down the street.”
Suncor could not comment on how long the shortage will continue.
“It’s just too difficult for me to say, and I would hate to give a date or to even speculate on a date. The best thing for folks to know is that we are taking the situation very seriously.
“We have teams working on it,” said Seetal.