PumpTalk - Petro-Canada

On June 1st, Alberta's Pre-Pay Legislation for Retail Fuel Outlets Comes into Effect

It’s funny how we get set in our ways and have a hard time with change, even if that change is for the better. Recently, my local grocery store re-arranged their aisles and it took me a few weeks to adapt. Initially, I couldn’t find my usual items and I felt like I spent twice as much time shopping. But after the re-arrangement, they were able to add a lot of new products, an enhanced deli and a fancy smoothie bar. So short-term uncomfortable change for a longer-term benefit – and delicious smoothies.

Today, a change is coming for our guests in Alberta that has a big long-term benefit: the safety of our associates. Alberta’s pre-pay legislation for retail fuel outlets and convenience stores is taking effect, requiring customers to pre-pay for fuel purchases in one of the following ways:

• paying at the pump
• paying the attendant before fuelling

If you pre-pay by credit or debit, the sale will be adjusted automatically if you require less fuel. The final amount will be reflected on the printed receipt you receive at the pump.

Likewise, if you pre-pay the attendant with cash or a gift card, and don’t fill-up the entire amount, you will need to go back into the store for a refund, though you will receive a receipt for the final amount at the pump.

We’ve had this type of legislation in place for a while here in British Columbia. It took a bit to get used to, but now it’s become part of my fuel pumping routine: for days when I’m short on time, I pay at the pump; for days when I feel like a coffee and a bit of a chat, I head inside to say hello to Prashad, the GSA at the Petro-Canada closest to my house, and pre-pay there.

More information about this legislation can be found on the Government of Alberta website. We know that pre-payment is a change for some of our Alberta customers and we appreciate your support as we comply with this legislation.

- Rose R.

Preventing Fraud at the Pumps

I got a call from my bank's Fraud Detection department the other day. A friendly but serious fellow on the other end of the phone asked "Did you attempt to purchase a mattress online for $8800?" Uh, no. Who spends $8800 on a mattress? Online? So, it turns out my credit card had been compromised - whether skimmed at a restaurant I was at recently or my number was posted online somewhere, the fraud department wouldn't say. Regardless, I had to go through the song and dance of filing some paperwork and then waiting for my new credit card.

I suppose this is just one of the hassles of 21st century life, but it definitely IS a hassle - to have your payment card skimmed. So that's why Petro-Canada has partnered with Toronto Crime Stoppers, the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association and Circle K Stores (formerly known as Mac's Convenience Stores) to guard against payment card skimming at our gas pumps.

Payment card skimming is a serious problem across the petroleum industry. In addition to the covert security features already in place at Petro-Canada, we're adding a more visible feature as well: strategically placed silver holographic anti-skimming decals. These decals bear the Crime Stoppers logo and will be placed on all Petro-Canada and Circle-K gas pumps in the Greater Toronto area and across Canada.

If fraudsters tamper with the strategically placed decals, they will break apart and visually alert customers and employees to a potential issue. So if you see that one of these decals has been broken, please alert our gas station attendants. They are instructed to perform preventative maintenance checks and ensure the integrity of the gas pump.

Crime Stoppers, in addition to supporting these decals, also encourages customers when paying at any gas pump to ensure that the card reader is secure by pulling on it and to check that the keypad area is flush against the console and not loose.

We're very excited about this initiative as well as working with Crime Stoppers, Circle-K and our customers to prevent skimming at the pump. Have you seen these anti-skimming decals at a Petro-Canada near you?

- Rose R.

New Long-Term Sustainability Goals - Suncor’s 2016 Report on Sustainability

As most of our readers know, Petro-Canada is a Suncor business. Every year, Suncor releases its Report on Sustainability, which examines the progress we’ve made on our environmental, social and economic performance. We believe that transparency is important to keep our stakeholders, and our shareholders informed on how we’re doing.

The 2016 Report on Sustainability includes our new long-term sustainability goals, one of which is to do our part to fight climate change by reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the second to increase the involvement of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada in energy development.

We share in the global challenge to tackle climate change head on by reducing emissions, while providing energy the world needs. We will work to harness technology and innovation to set us on a transformational pathway to a low carbon energy system. We will start by reducing the total emission intensity of the production of our oil and petroleum products by 30% by 2030.

We asked some of our employees why it's important for Suncor to have a GHG goal. Here's what they had to say:

Suncor’s first long-term social goal recognizes the value of relationships, and focuses on changing the way we think and act so we can strengthen our relationships and increase the participation of Aboriginal Peoples in energy development. This isn’t work we do ‘to’ or ‘for’ Aboriginal Peoples. We must learn from, and with, partners and communities. Find out more about our 10 year plan here. 

The 2016 Report on Sustainability also includes an update on the environmental performance goals Suncor adopted back in 2009, to be achieved by the end of 2015. We met three of four of these goals:

• Water: We reduced our fresh water consumption by 27%, surpassing our goal to reduce consumption by 12%

• Land: We increased reclamation of disturbed land by 176%, surpassing our goal to increase reclamation by 100%. By 2015, we reclaimed 3,730 hectares of disturbed lands

• Energy intensity: We improved our energy efficiency by 9%, reaching an overall energy intensity of 5.06 GJ/m3, coming within 1% of achieving our goal. Our new GHG goal will help us continue to reduce energy use in our operations

• Air: We reduced our air emissions by 36%, significantly surpassing our goal to reduce emissions by 10%

For more about Suncor's sustainability efforts, check out the full Suncor 2016 Report on Sustainability.

Going Green – Today’s Conversations with Canadian Drivers

This July marks the 10 year anniversary of the PumpTalk blog. Ten years of posts about gas prices, fuel efficiency and the occasional layered sandwich!

We started this blog because we heard that our guests wanted to have a better understanding of how gas prices were set. So we set out to help explain why gas prices sometime fluctuate, the impact of supply and demand and the price differences across Canada.

Ten years later, the conversation has changed. Although gas prices are still relevant to our guests, many also want to talk about the responsible development and use of Canada’s natural resources. So with that in mind, we have updated our blog to better reflect the today’s dialogue.

Here on PumpTalk, you’ll continue to see posts about the price at the pump and fun car facts, but you’ll also see more about fuel efficiency and how we can all use our products responsibly.

To help us spread the word, we’ve updated our old pump stickers, to give them a new look and to reflect the updated focus of PumpTalk. Above is preview of the new sticker you’ll be seeing on your pump.

Let us know what you think!

Final Update: Supply Situation in Western Canada

Thank you for your patience and cooperation - we're happy to report that our retail locations in Western Canada that recently experienced a fuel outage have now received fuel and are operational. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and we regret any frustration that you endured. Thank you for being a Petro-Canada customer. 

Update #2: Supply Situation in Western Canada

Here’s an update on the supply situation in Western Canada.

We’re in the process of refuelling our sites following the return to planned operations at our Edmonton refinery and Oil Sands operations.

This will take a few days, but we’re working on getting gasoline and diesel to our customers as quickly as possible.

We appreciate your business and apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. We thank you for your continued patience and cooperation as we continue to work towards "business as usual".

Update on Temporary Fuel Shortage

We wanted to update you on the temporary fuel shortage at Petro-Canada stations in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and interior BC. The fires in the Fort McMurray area as well as an unplanned outage at our Edmonton refinery means that we've had an unavoidable impact on our ability to produce and supply our normal volume of gasoline and diesel.

This is what we are doing to improve the situation:

• bringing in additional supply for our Edmonton refinery
• restarting our oil sands operations in a safe and staged manner
• bringing in additional gasoline from other parts of our network via truck and rail as quickly as possible
• working to bring the affected unit back into service safely and as quickly as possible

We apologize for the inconvenience. We are continuing to look for solutions to limit the impact to our customers. Thank you for your patience.

 

Update: June 4, 2016

We have a plan in place that will maintain supply at critical locations so as to minimize the impact on customers as much as possible.  This includes supporting the community of Fort McMurray returning to their home, and adequately maintaining supply in areas where there are limited or no other options for fuelling.

‘Tis the Season for WinterGas™

Well, the holidays are over – unfortunately, winter is not. But when the weather outside is frightful, WinterGas™ is delightful! And it’s available again this year at Petro-Canada.

What makes WinterGas different from regular gasoline?

WinterGas is specially formulated to have a higher vapour pressure. Essentially, gasoline in winter months needs to be more volatile to help your engine start more quickly. So WinterGas helps with cold weather start ups.

WinterGas also includes Petro-Canada’s Tactrol™ additive, which is designed to act as a detergent. Tactrol helps keep your engine operating efficiently and reliably by removing deposits formed in the fuel and intake system.

The final additive that makes WinterGas more effective in harsh winter conditions is our gas-line anti-freeze, which helps prevent fuel line freezing and keeps the fuel moving when temperatures drop.

Is WinterGas more expensive than regular gasoline?

Nope. WinterGas is available in all grades of gasoline – including Ultra 94 – at no extra cost.

Where can I get WinterGas?

No other gas station in Canada makes WinterGas - it's available exclusively at Petro-Canada from November through March in all gasoline grades at Petro-Canada gas stations across Canada (except the Greater Vancouver Regional District, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast).

As our iconic WinterGas commercial says, "you have to live here to get it"!

What’s the winter been like in your area this year? Let us know in the comments. And stay safe out there, drivers!

- Rose R.

Talking Sustainability and Transportation

Here at PumpTalk, we try to keep the focus on practical car and driving information, but every once in a while something comes up that our readers might be interested in that is tangentially related to driving. So this week, here are a couple of quick snippets for you.

Talking Transportation with The Walrus
First, our parent company, Suncor, is sponsoring an upcoming "The Walrus Talks" event and this one is all about transportation! "The Walrus Talks Transportation" features eight diverse speakers on the subject of transportation and mobility. I'm particularly keen on hearing John Lorinc from Spacing Magazine (one of my personal favs!) as well as Cherise Burda of the Ryerson City Building Institute (formerly from the Pembina Institute).

"The Walrus Talks Transportation" is on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at the AGO in Toronto. You can check out the full list of speakers and read more about the event on The Walrus' site. [http://thewalrus.ca/the-walrus-talks-transportation/]

Talking Sustainability and Our Energy Future
We recently released our 2015 Report on Sustainability. In conjunction with the report, we're also hosting a series of conversations on our "What Yes Can Do" site. This week's topic is about our shared energy future: Why do you think finding better ways to produce and use energy is a shared responsibility? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

And if you're not sure that chatting about our energy future is up your alley, check out this video from our senior advisor of social innovation, Lori Gammell with her take on who should be involved in these conversations.

 

The Race is on to Win Free Gas for 50 Years!

The Amazing Race Canada, Season 3, kicked off last night and Petro-Canada is a sponsor again this year! I'm an Amazing Race nerd from way back, so I can't wait to see where this season takes the teams.

Last season was so exciting - when Alain proposed to Audrey in Paris…when we found out, as he blew past his competition on the horse track in PEI, that Mickey used to be a track star…when the teams had to learn how to correctly deal a game of Fan Tan in a casino in Macau…when Meaghan managed to complete a quarter drift in her Ultra 94-fueled Camaro SS almost on the first try - it was non-stop action from start to finish.

If you're not already a fan of The Amazing Race Canada, there are two great contests running this summer that may turn you into a one.

1. Free Gas for 50 Years 

Every time you swipe your Petro-Points card between now and September 27, 2015, you'll be entered for a chance to win one of 12 weekly prizes of free gas for a year or the Grand Prize of free gas for 50 years! Every time you swipe - fuel purchases, snacks, coffee, lottery tickets, slush - don't forget to swipe that card each time you visit a Petro-Canada.

BONUS: On every episode of The Amazing Race Canada, a secret code will be revealed. Enter that code online at FreeGasfor50.com before the Sunday after each episode and you'll get five additional entries in the contest. That's a lot of extra entries between now and September 27th, so make sure to either watch the show live or record it to get that secret code.

2. Fuel Your Favourite Team 

I liked most of the teams last year but my favourite team was Rex Harrington and his partner Bob. In the Fuel Your Favourite Team contest, you can vote for your favourite team once per day. Each time you vote, you'll be entered for a chance to win free gas for a year - and at the end of the race, the team with the most votes will also win free gas for a year (even if they get eliminated before the end of the race).

Keep up on the secret code and keep tabs on your favourite teams on The Amazing Race Canada every Wednesday at 9/8c on CTV. Who would you take with you as your teammate if you were on The Amazing Race Canada?

- Rose R.