Shell seeks oil supply amid Alberta plant woes

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc lined up alternative supplies of upgraded oil sands crude for its Alberta refinery on Monday as its own upgrading plant underwent unplanned maintenance, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Shell and Imperial Oil Ltd kept rationing fuel supplies to their retail networks as both their Edmonton-area refineries suffered unspecified operational problems which came to light last week.

The refinery hiccups have squeezed gasoline and diesel supplies across western Canada, and contributed to sharp gains in pump prices. Neither Shell nor Imperial have disclosed how much production has been cut or given target dates for resuming full output.

“We are working around the clock to address this, both on the refinery side and the upgrader side,” Shell spokesman Randy Provencal said.

Reuters