PumpTalk - Petro-Canada

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.

 

Fossil in the Fuel: Suncor's Rare Dinosaur Find

This week, I thought we could do the ultimate #ThrowbackThursday here on PumpTalk by going back a few million years, to when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

When I was a kid, I was told that oil was made from the remains of dinosaurs, which is why it's called "fossil fuel". Turns out that this is a myth - the bacteria, plant and animal organisms that formed oil existed even before the dinosaurs.

But a few years ago, oil and dinosaurs had an actual reason to be associated - an extremely rare dinosaur fossil was discovered at Suncor's Millennium Mine. Recently, the story of the fossil find was featured on Daily Planet and we posted this about it over on the OSQAR blog:

"In 2011, Suncor came across something a little less expected at its oil sands mining operations – a dinosaur! Thanks to the sharp eye of one of our employees, Suncor made history with this amazing find. Watch as Discovery’s Daily Planet explores what it took to extract the dinosaur fossil from Suncor’s Millennium Mine and what this rare find unveils about Alberta’s pre-historic times."

 

 

Were you a big dinosaur fan as a kid (or are you still one)? Let us know in the comments!

- Rose R.

Winter in Canada Means WinterGas

Spring may be only a month away, but most of Canada is still held tightly in winter's icy, snowy grip. We share a lot of advice here on PumpTalk about winter driving. But it's been awhile since we talked about what we at Petro-Canada do to make winter easier on Canadian drivers and that's our WinterGas. Because winter doesn't stop Canadians and neither should their gasoline!

Since this year marks the 15th anniversary of our iconic WinterGas commercial, I thought a quick FAQ about WinterGas was in order, starting with:

What's the deal with WinterGas?

"WinterGas is specially designed specifically for the Canadian winter months and is available in all grades of gasoline in the winter months. It has three main differences versus the fuel we use during the spring, summer and fall months.

First, WinterGas is specially formulated to have a higher RVP - or vapour pressure. This means that the fuel is more volatile and vapourizes more readily, which is especially more effective in winter months when the temperature is much colder.

Second, Tactrol™, our proprietary deposit control additive is included. This additive is a detergent that is designed to help keep engines operating efficiently and reliably by removing deposits formed in the fuel and intake system.

Third, WinterGas includes an additional additive which is a gas-line anti-freeze that keeps fuel moving when temperatures start to drop."

Basically, WinterGas helps with cold weather start ups, helps prevent fuel line freezing and keeps your fuel systems clean - all extremely important in our extreme Canadian weather!

Does WinterGas cost more?

Nope. WinterGas is available in all grades of gasoline and doesn't cost extra.

Where can I get WinterGas?

No other gas station in Canada makes WinterGas - it's available exclusively at Petro-Canada. As our old commercial says, "you have to live here to get it"!

For a slightly more technical explanation about WinterGas, visit our older post about WinterGas and how it works.

WinterGas is available until early March, when hopefully spring will save us all. What's the coldest it's been in your neck of the woods this winter? Let us know in the comments!

- Rose R.

An update for our email subscribers

As we announced in an earlier post, we have changed our email provider for the delivery of PumpTalk email. If you're receiving this, you have been successfully switched. If you have any questions about your subscription, please get in touch with us at pumptalk@petro-canada.ca

Thank you for reading PumpTalk!

A note to our email subscribers

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