Some Calgary-area Petro-Canada stations shut down their pumps this week as the gasoline supply from the parent company Suncor Energy dried up.
“We are currently experiencing a gasoline supply shortage,” Suncor said in an emailed statement to Global News on Tuesday. “We understand that this is an inconvenience for our customers and we apologize.”
The company said they are doing everything they can to minimize the impact and are looking for other supply sources.
Suncor spokesperson Nicole Fisher said Wednesday that the cause is due to “ongoing seasonal maintenance in the industry and that has reduced our product inventory.”
She added that Suncor is committed to communicating with their customers.
Several Edmonton-area Petro-Canada stations have also shut off their pumps.
Global News spotted at least three stations in Calgary with closed pumps, including stations at 19 Street N.E., 16 Avenue N.E. by 6 Street N.E. and the Kensington location on 14 Street N.W.
An employee at the Mayland Heights location who wanted to remain anonymous told Global News said they had no idea when the station will get more fuel. It could be a day or five days, he said.
All three Petro-Canada stations in Lethbridge are reporting they have full inventory and are not being affected by the shortage.
Two years ago, Suncor Energy apologized to consumers for gas shortages at Petro-Canada stations across Western Canada. In that case, the energy firm blamed gas production problems in the United States and Alberta for the fuel shortage.
At the time, Suncor said the Fort McMurray wildfire and an outage at its Edmonton refinery were impacting supply at the pumps.
— With files from Phil Heidenreich