Fuel expert optimistic gasoline will return to Southern Interior pumps sooner than later | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Fuel expert optimistic gasoline will return to Southern Interior pumps sooner than later

Gas stations across the Southern Interior have been running out of fuel due to a shut down at a refinery in Edmonton, which supplies approximately one-quarter of gasoline and diesel for western Canada.

As gas pumps at some stations across the Southern Interior run dry, one fuel expert says there's no need to go into panic mode.

Dan McTeague, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, says some stations in Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops have run out of all grades of gasoline this week due to a shutdown at the Suncor refinery in Edmonton.

"Many towns have seen maybe five or six of their stations run out," McTeague says. "Generally speaking, I think the worst is behind us.”

Suncor's refinery was down for the month of May and it's caused some disturbances into June, McTeague says. Suncor owns Petro-Canada so they were the first stations affected by the shutdown.

But other gas stations are also supplied by Suncor, which has had an impact on various stations in the region, McTeague says, adding that Suncor produces about one quarter of all gasoline and diesel in western Canada.

"Right now we’re in what’s called a catch up period," he says.

Tanker trucks are "scrambling" to fill as many obligations as they can, according to McTeague, but things should be calming down in the coming days. Yesterday, June 14, there were 60 to 80 stations closed in the province and today, June 15, that number has already declined by approximately 20.

If you can wait to fill up your tank, you should, says McTeague, as wholesale prices for gasoline are plummeting today and expected to go down two to three more cents by the beginning of next week.

"Hold off, take what you need, but don’t go crazy."


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