North American Fuel Shortage Reports

[wisconsin_cur]

Esso stations across the Prairies are running low on gasoline and face rotating outages for the next few weeks, according to owner Imperial Oil.

Operational issues have reduced output at the Strathcona refinery just east of Edmonton, forcing the company to ration supply to its Esso stations across the Prairies, and into British Columbia, Imperial said Wednesday.

Link

[DantesPeak]

Gasoline to be rationed in Fort McMurry area.

An energy center short of gas? There is something wrong with this
picture, and PO is the cause.

Gasoline shortage

By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Today staff
Friday March 07, 2008

There may be some panicked calls of “fill ‘er up” over the next few days, as two of Canada’s largest oil companies are reporting tight fuel supplies in western Canada that may result in stations running out of gasoline.
There are four retail Esso stations in Fort McMurray: the Real Martin location had empty tanks this morning, while the pumps were still operating at the Millennium Drive, Franklin Avenue and Gregoire outlets.
Undisclosed technical issues with fuel processing components of Imperial Oil’s Edmonton refinery resulted in decreased output, according to Gordon Wong, Imperial spokesman. The plant is only running at about 50 per cent production capacity after those fuel-processing units were taken off-line. The refinery normally produces about 187,000 barrels of oil a day. Starting on Feb. 24, Imperial Oil began rationing fuel and expects to continue doing so for at least a few more weeks. “(What) we’ve been trying to do is supplement ... by looking at other sources, and up to this point, been fairly successful at doing that,” Wong added, explaining the company’s initiatives to meet customer demand.
“As a result of the refinery issues, it’s likely that there will be some outages, sporadic though they may be, over the next few weeks at retail sites in the Prairies, and possibly in B.C.,” predicted Wong.
“We are working as quickly as possible to assess the damaged units, and undertake repairs. Obviously, we’re trying to minimize any kind of inconvenience to customers.”
“Fuel supply right now in western Canada is tight,” said Janet Annesley, of Shell Canada, this morning, discussing the company’s own production slowdown.

Fort McMurray Today

[auscanman]

Gasoline to be rationed in Fort McMurry area.

An energy center short of gas? There is something wrong with this
picture, and PO is the cause.

Gasoline shortage

By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Today staff
Friday March 07, 2008

There may be some panicked calls of “fill ‘er up” over the next few days, as two of Canada’s largest oil companies are reporting tight fuel supplies in western Canada that may result in stations running out of gasoline.
There are four retail Esso stations in Fort McMurray: the Real Martin location had empty tanks this morning, while the pumps were still operating at the Millennium Drive, Franklin Avenue and Gregoire outlets.
Undisclosed technical issues with fuel processing components of Imperial Oil’s Edmonton refinery resulted in decreased output, according to Gordon Wong, Imperial spokesman. The plant is only running at about 50 per cent production capacity after those fuel-processing units were taken off-line. The refinery normally produces about 187,000 barrels of oil a day. Starting on Feb. 24, Imperial Oil began rationing fuel and expects to continue doing so for at least a few more weeks. “(What) we’ve been trying to do is supplement ... by looking at other sources, and up to this point, been fairly successful at doing that,” Wong added, explaining the company’s initiatives to meet customer demand.
“As a result of the refinery issues, it’s likely that there will be some outages, sporadic though they may be, over the next few weeks at retail sites in the Prairies, and possibly in B.C.,” predicted Wong.
“We are working as quickly as possible to assess the damaged units, and undertake repairs. Obviously, we’re trying to minimize any kind of inconvenience to customers.”
“Fuel supply right now in western Canada is tight,” said Janet Annesley, of Shell Canada, this morning, discussing the company’s own production slowdown.

Fort McMurray Today

Goes to show, as Matt Simmons has said, that neglect of oil infrastructure could prove to have more devastating effects than insufficient oil available to be pumped.

[shortonoil]

it should come as no surprise that the city's slogan is "We have the Energy!"

McMurray

Processing Canadian oil sands, road tar through a refinery, it should come as no surprise that the city’s slogan is now “We had the Energy”.

[Jupidu]

Aren't there any emergency reserves or SPRs in case of a bigger problem at a refinery (even nowadays possible with our sophisticated technology)?????

By the way: Producing veg oil to fill it into a diesel car isn't to complicated. You have press it with a maximum temperature of about 45°C and to filter it after that with maximum of about 3-5µm width of the holes.
So you can deposit your oil at a dark and cool place for at least six months. Humidity and old veg oil (even in very small amounts!) in the tank is also very bad for long lasting.

[auscanman]

Aren't there any emergency reserves or SPRs in case of a bigger problem at a refinery (even nowadays possible with our sophisticated technology)?????

Canada is unique among OECD countries in having no emergency reserves of oil whatsoever. This puts the eastern part of the country in a precarious position in the event of some crisis affecting oil supplies.

[Homesteader]

There was a station in Burlington, NC that was out of regular unleaded yesterday.

[Gandalf_the_White]

Again I defer to DantesPeak since he seems to keep an eye on the details of this more than the rest of us, but I think the price right now is setting us up for shortages. The price is hurting the poor, but most folks are just motoring along. We had talked somewhere else about something in the mid four dollar range being the fair market price but someone not letting the real cost of burning gas show up in the American economy. The Europeans are all pyaing over $6 equivalent per gallon and they have a stronger currency than we do. I would not be surprised if we see shortages this year.

I also noticed something in the oil futures I have never seen before. The '15 contracts were trading higher than anything after '10. I wonder if that means we have some people taking depletion seriously when it comes to investing? Anyone know why that might happen. usually the front month is the most expensive and it declines from there. I also noticed the comex gold futures were actually strictly rising into the future.

[Grimnir]

"Guys, we may have a problem in the DC area"

[DantesPeak]

Coca Cola prepares for diesel shortages (Have they been reading PO.com???)

Coca-Cola plant to add diesel fueling station behind Bridges Crossing subdivision
By Kelly VanLeeuwen • STAFF WRITER • April 23, 2008

The Coca-Cola distribution plant in the CenterPoint business center on Holland Road in Mauldin will add a diesel fueling station soon.

The station, which will house a 12,000-gallon tank, will be large enough for two trucks to fuel at once, according to Doug Leonard, director of environmental affairs for Coca-Cola, who spoke to the commission.

Due to the rising gas prices, Coca Cola is installing the station to not only buy fuel in bulk but also to prepare against a possible fuel shortage, Leonard said later.

Greenville Online

[Eli]

Great food and fuel shortages, just wonderful, awesome.

Golf clap for everyone.

[pup55]

I was at a big truck stop this morning, and 8 out of the 12 pumps were bagged up for unleaded.

No doubt this is just a tanker issue, because the stations around it all had no problems, but interesting nevertheless, as a frequent viewer of this stuff.

[pup55]

The system is showing some strains in Texas, of all places:

LONGVIEW---The owner says he got a letter from an oil company saying he needs to start ordering gasoline further in advance due to a limited supply and high demand.
In years past, the owner of this Shell station says he would have been able to order gasoline a matter of hours before he needed it.
Now, he's being advised by his supplier to order gasoline at least one full day in advance.
That's because he told us the demand for supply at the Delek terminal where they get their gas is so high.

KETK

[shortonoil]

North East VA

I spent an hour on the phone today, calling about ten companies, trying to find someone who would fill two 40lb Propane tanks. They all told me the same thing, “we aren’t taking new customers”. One lady did give me a price, after much urging. She said “it is $3.63 per gallon - today”!

These dealers reluctance to even talk about it, indicates that the situation is much worse than anyone is saying!

[vision-master]

North East VA

I spent an hour on the phone today, calling about ten companies, trying to find someone who would fill two 40lb Propane tanks. They all told me the same thing, “we aren’t taking new customers”. One lady did give me a price, after much urging. She said “it is $3.63 per gallon - today”!

These dealers reluctance to even talk about it, indicates that the situation is much worse than anyone is saying!

getten the barbie-cue grill ready for summer?

[joewp]

NJ - Long lines fuel anger

WALL — Motorists needing gas and eager for a bargain packed rest-stop service areas on the state's major toll roads Thursday, as the spike in fuel prices created a buyer's dream for drivers on the Garden State Parkway and elsewhere.
Lines of cars waited at rest stops for their turn at the pumps, so that drivers could take advantage of the relatively lower prices while they lasted. This morning, gas prices on the Parkway are expected to rise to levels more in line with stations off the Parkway.
A gallon of gas at the Parkway rest stop here Thursday was fetching a bargain basement $3.17, compared to fuel costs ranging from $3.35 and higher everywhere else. Prices on the Parkway were expected to jump 22 cents to $3.39 overnight.
By mid-morning Thursday, motorists were getting that retro '70s feeling, as they sat in long lines waiting to fill up their gas tanks. A number of people said they were upset about the recent spike in the price of gas, but said the silver lining was the savings found at the service areas on the state's toll roads.
"This is ridiculous. I need to stay home," said Lakisha Whitley of Long Branch, as she waited in line for gas with her 9-year-old son. "I didn't know this was the lowest price around, but I would have gone out of my way to get it if I did know."
Whitley said she has already started consolidating her errands and shopping trips to save on gas consumption.

It's the market system at work. We're now all out of $3.17 gas and the only new gas we have is $3.39.

[ExtractionEngineer]

I live in rural southern Oklahoma. There is only one service station (Shell) within 15 miles of my home. They have had no unleaded for a few days now. We topped off the fuel in our storage containers last night...just in case.

[yogiudo]

In Toronto, Ontario - There are some smaller sized gas stations that have run out of gas and are "waiting" for a delivery.

Most of the majors are still full, but it seems that there may be disruption to some of the smaller companies.

[wisconsin_cur]

Just heard from my wife that a few days ago along I-94 (Knapp Exit about 45 miles from the Minnesota border) there was a sign posted "Only E-85"

There is gas there now

[DantesPeak]

Is it just a 'mistake'?

Mix-up at terminal led to premium-gas shortage here
By JIM FABER
jfaber@islandpacket.com
843-706-8137
Published Thursday, May 29, 2008

An error at a gasoline storage terminal in Savannah last week led to the wrong octane gas being delivered to some southern Beaufort County service stations, preventing them from selling premium-grade fuel over Memorial Day weekend.

Rob Demere, president of Colonial Group Inc., said an error made at his company's terminal last week resulted in 90-octane gas going out to stations, instead of the 93-octane gas most sell as premium.

Colonial was working to deliver higher octane gas, around 94 octane, to stations to blend with the lower octane gas so that it could be sold as premium, Demere said.

Fulmer said it was very unusual for a terminal to make a mistake mixing gas, something Bell and Demere echoed.

Island Packet