Gas Pains

Some local stations temporarily affected

Pumps at the Petro-Canada station on Guelph St. and Sinclair Ave. were taped up Monday but were working again Tuesday.

The Ontario gas shortage hit Halton Hills over the past few days with some local stations having to shut down temporarily because they didn't have any gasoline. Although the shortage originally affected only Imperial Oil's Esso stations-- the station on Steeles Ave. in Hornby was closed at times on Sunday and Monday-- it has also hit some Canadian Tire and PetroCanada stations. Locally the PetroCanada stations in Georgetown South, at Guelph St. and Mountainview Rd. and at Guelph St. and Sinclair Ave. were out of gas at some time over the past few days, but as of Monday the Canadian Tire station on Guelph St. had not yet experienced the shortage firsthand. At press time yesterday (Tuesday) the Beaver gas bar and station at Toth Motors in Acton had not been affected. Industry officials said Tuesday the gas shortage is spreading and it will be several more days before all stations are fully resupplied. Monday's snowstorm further delayed repairs to Imperial Oil's Nanticoke refinery near Hamilton where a fire two weeks ago cut production in half. The two-week old CN Rail strike also delayed deliveries, but now that a tentative settlement has been reached, oil companies say prospects have brightened, depending on when conductors report back to work across the country. Nobody, however, is prepared to put a timeline on resolving the gas-supply problem.

"It takes time. It's a very unusual situation. A number of things have come together at the same time to produce a very tight supply in Ontario and Quebec, " said Shell Canada spokesperson John Peck. If the St. Lawrence Seaway were open, ships could bring fuel into southern Ontario easily, but the ice will remain for at least a month. Across the province Imperial Oil has had to close about 100 Esso stations, or about 25 per cent, of its 400 stations because of supply problems. Petro-Canada has had to impose gas rationing at 80 outlets, limiting motorists to 75 litres per fill-up, however a spokesperson at the Petro-Canada at Guelph and Sinclair said that hasn't been the case at that station or other area Petro-Canada outlets as far as she knew. Driven by supply and demand, prices jumped from 84 cents a litre to nearly $1 a litre in just two weeks.