Some Vernon gas stations latest to run out of fuel

Photo: Contributed

A B.C. Interior fuel shortage first reported in Kamloops and then Kelowna is spreading to Vernon.

Hand-written signs were taped up on the gas pumps at the Middleton Way 7-Eleven Petro-Can station on Thursday.

The signs read: "Out of gas, sorry for any inconvenience."

This follows stations in Kelowna running out of fuel earlier this week.

Signs posted at some stations pointed to ethanol delivery problems from the Kamloops bulk fuel terminal, which is operated by Suncor.

The issue was expected to be rectified within a few days.

Problems first started showing up around the middle of the month, when some Kamloops stations were dry.

This followed a Suncor refinery shutdown in Edmonton for maintenance.

This also impacted stations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba and.

A Suncor spokesperson said the 142,000 barrel-a-day refinery was restarted the second week of June.

The shortage was made worse because other suppliers were also offline.