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8- The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 2, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Auto club urges motorists not to panic Continued from page 1 an order in and usually it only takes 48 hours but this time they didn't even give us a time." Other station managers say their situations are better. "We've got plenty of gas and we're not going to run out," said Juliana Lazarova, of Lakeshore Road's 7Eleven. Gregory Ostrovsky, who works at a Pioneer service station at the corner of Bronte and Lakeshore Road, shares her positive outlook. "So far it's okay. We are having no problems with our deliveries," he said. The diverse response of the station owners mirrored those of motorists yesterday, with some having great difficulty finding fuel while others barely noticed any difference. "This is the first place I looked," said Ray Eglitis, as he gassed up his car at 7Eleven. "It's a lot busier than normal though." Over at the Shell service station, at corner of Speers Road and Third Line, Bruce Craig explained how he didn't have as easy a time spending 15-20 minutes to finally get his gas tank filled. "There were either lineups or they were closed," he said. "This certainly harkens to the `70s when there were fuel shortages and we certainly didn't learn anything from that or we wouldn't be dealing with it again 30 years later." Brenda Daniels, a sales representative, whose duties require her to visit service stations in Oakville and Burlington, says her job has been made more difficult by the fuel shortage. "There's a lot of gas stations that are out of gas and those that do have gas there's a lot of cars lined up and it makes it really difficult for those trying to get in and out," she said. Daniels is also concerned about businesses that operate alongside the service stations. "I feel really sorry for those gas stations that are out of gas because some of them have Tim Hortons or other add-on services and they're dead." At a deserted Petro Canada station that rests at "This certainly harkens to the `70s when there were fuel shortages and we certainly didn't learn anything from that or we wouldn't be dealing with it again 30 years later." Motorist Bruce Craig the corner of Morden and Speers Road, attendant Aruna Gupte was at her post despite the fact that she had no product to sell and in fact hasn't had any for the past two days. Outside, plastic yellow caution tape wraps around the gas station's pumps as a signal to motorists that the station has run dry. "It's really boring," she said."Customers call and want to know when we'll get more gas but I have no idea." Even though she works at a gas station, Gupte is not immune from the hassle the shortage is causing many residents. "Yesterday my husband waited for almost 45 min- utes for the gas. The line was out onto Speers Road," she said. Nellie Freitas said impatience at the pumps nearly led to an accident when she tried to fill up. "I couldn't get it where I live so I had to travel to the other end of Oakville to get my gas where I was almost hit by an elderly man who was very impatient," she said. "There was a long line and I guess people were getting impatient because they were butting in front of each other." Canadian Automobile Association spokesperson Edyta Zdancewicz warned that panicking will only make the situation worse. "They think that everything is going to run out so they'll fill up their gas tank and then on top of that they'll bring their canisters and fill those up so they have a supply at home in case it all goes," she said. "Retailers will see that everyone is going nuts buying all this stuff so they will increase the price. It's basic economics - supply and demand theory." Instead, Zdancewicz recommends people purchase gas only when they need it and ensure that their fuel tanks are always at least half full. "That way you'll never run out of gas and your vehicle will actually be able to run at its optimum level." Zdancewicz also says, at this point, CAA has not seen an increase in the number of people in Oakville calling because their cars have run out of gas. "People are probably paying close attention to their gas tanks because of the shortage and they're doing what needs to be done to ensure the fuel is always there in their gas tanks." The shortage is expected to begin to ease during the weekend with production at the Imperial Oil refinery returning to 50 per cent. Back at Gupte's Petro Canada station a large tanker begins to feed long hoses into the station's large storage tanks. False alarm, explains Gupte, it's just a maintenance truck. 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