Shortage leaves Jasper station out of gas

A shortfall of gasoline supply at Petro-Canada’s Edmonton refinery earlier this month left pumps at about 90 stations in Alberta and the interior of British Columbia running dry, including one in Jasper.

The Petro-Canada station on Connaught Drive at Balsam Avenue has had caution tape wrapped around its gasoline pumps for more than a week, with a sign reading, “We are currently out of gasoline, we apologize for any inconvenience.” The tape was still up Wednesday morning of this week.

The manager would only confirm that the station had been running on empty. “If you are asking about shortages you have to call Petro Canada,” she said. Of the two Petro-Canada stations on Connaught Drive, an employee said the location across from Robinson’s had only diesel while the station at Hazel Avenue has had a supply of gasoline.

Petro-Canada spokesperson Jon Hamilton said the diminished supply was due to recent problems at the company’s Edmonton refinery. Because of “unforeseen circumstances,” a key part of production known as the catalytic cracking unit was shut down in early August.

Though it’s unknown when the refinery will be back up and running, Hamilton said a team is working to rectify the situation. In the meantime, the company is making use of trains and more trucks to spread its fuel delivery, which it expects should stabilize the situation.

“We’ve maximized the amount of gasoline available in Alberta and the interior of B.C. by taking as much supply pressure as possible off the area,” he said. “Rather than continuing to ship gasoline from Edmonton to Thunder Bay, we’re delivering it by rail from Montreal.”

The company owns about 140 branded stations in Alberta and close to 200 in B.C., meaning the outages have affected about a quarter of all Petro-Canada stations between the two provinces.