TORONTO -- Agasoline shortage at Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Esso stations in Ontario spilled over to competitors on the weekend, leaving some of them with dry tanks too as they scrambled to meet customer demand.
Petro-Canada spokesperson Jon Hamilton told CBC News on Monday that about 20 companyoutletsin the Toronto area were left without supplies over the weekend, with the rotating shortage ranging from a few hours to longer. To combat shortages, Petro-Canada was limiting the amount of gasoline a customer could pump to 75 liters per fillup.
Hamilton also said Petro-Canada is continuing to pumpan extra 500,000 liters of gasoline and diesel into the Ontario marketplace each day to help meet growing demand at its stations. "We're doing everything we can to bring additional product supplies to consumers," he said. "Hopefully, some of the refining issues that the industry seems to be having can be resolved quickly and we can move on quickly."
Part of the problem for Petro-Canada has been getting fuel to the retailers, as the company does not have enoughsupply trucks to keep up with the company's increase in demand.
The gasoline shortage began after a February 15 fire at Imperial Oil's Nanticoke refinery in Ontario, and the problem was exacerbated by the CN Rail strike, which also limited the movement of fuel supplies.
With tanks running dry at some stations, prices at the pumps of outlets that still have gasoline have shot higher, said the report. The average price for unleaded gasoline in Toronto on Monday was 96.788 cents per liter, according to the website torontogasprices.com. The prices are more than five cents a liter higher than they were a week ago, and well beyond the prices of one month ago, when the price stood at 77.831 cents per liter.
Imperial Oil supplies Esso outlets and some Canadian Tire gas bars.
Calgary, Alberta-based Imperial Oil issued the following statement last week:
As a result of very tight industry supply, unexpected operating events and transportation challenges, Imperial has had to apportion supply of distillate fuel and gasoline to its customers in Ontario over the next few weeks.
The supply situation in the Ontario market for distillate and gasoline has been very tight as a result of recent industry refinery operating incidents, restrictions in marine access due to cold weather and the CN rail strike.
Against this backdrop, Imperial has experienced unanticipated operating problems at its Ontario refineries, including a recent fire at the Nanticoke refinery. Damage from the fire is currently under repair and Nanticoke is expected to resume production next week at reduced operating rates.
As a result of the apportionment, there will be instances of outages at Imperial's Esso retail sites in many markets throughout Ontario. Outages may be short lived and rotating but some locations will be out of product for longer periods. Diesel supply to commercial customers will also be limited but fuel for home heat customers is adequate to meet demand.
Imperial is coordinating deliveries to commercial and retail customers to ensure priority needs such as emergency services, home heating customers and other critical demands are met. Extensive efforts with trading partners and transport carriers are underway to secure additional supply.
Imperial has notified Ontario and federal government officials and is keeping them informed of the situation.
Imperial recognizes the severity of this event and the impact to customers. All efforts are being made to resolve the current situation as quickly as possible.
Mississauga, Ont.-based Petro-Canada issued this statement:
Petro-Canada has been working hard to keep serving customers at both the wholesale and retail level throughout the current supply situation in Ontario.
As has been reported in the media, the petroleum industry in Ontario is facing a very tight fuel supply situation, which was heightened by recent refining issues in the province. Over the last few days, Petro-Canada has also experienced a significant increase in demand at retail sites across the province.
We are taking direct and immediate action to keep serving our customers at the wholesale and retail level:
We are distributing product to our retail sites as quickly as possible.
We are closely monitoring inventory levels on a daily basis.
We are providing our contracted wholesale customers with their average monthly volumes.
We are deploying trucks, where possible, to move additional petroleum products into the province.
We are ensuring that pipeline capacity is fully utilized to bring as much product into Ontario as quickly as possible.
We are also taking action to help improve the overall supply situation, where possible:
We are putting an additional 500 thousand liters of gasoline and diesel into the Ontario marketplace each day, which is a significant, but responsible amount given our own supply situation.We are looking to source additional surplus petroleum products in areas such as Montreal, Buffalo and Detroit.We are supporting industry participants, where possible, to see that priority is placed on serving essential services and home heat customers.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.