Nova Scotia gas stations running out of fuel

A gasoline shortageis affecting service stations Friday ranging from Halifax to Truro.

The shortagearrives as thousands of people leave Halifaxfor the long weekend. Fans eager to make it to Moncton early for the U2 concert in Moncton, N.B., addedeven more demandat the pumps.

The Imperial Oil refinery in Dartmouth has been offline since a thunderstorm July 21 shut off power at the plant. The refinery normally supplies diesel and gasoline to all types of service stations in Nova Scotia.

To minimize further disruptions the refinerystayed closed while the company moved up its annual maintenance shutdown, which had beenplanned for early next month.

Staff at some stations said theywere expecting deliveries Friday night, but there's some worry that the fuel won't make it to all the stations thatare expecting it.

Stations running out or low

ThePetro-Canadaclosest to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport is out of fuel.

The Petro-Canada and Essojust off highway 102 at Exit 8in Elmsdale are also out of fuel. Irving expects to be out soon.

The Esso gas station atExit 11 on Highway 102 as of 8 p.m. was running low on regular and was out of high- and medium-octane gasoline.

Gas stations in Brookfield and Stewiackewere running low.

In Halifax, stations in Spryfield, Clayton Park, Fall River, Milford andRockingham were running low.