Gasoline Demand During Calgary Stampede Drains City's Gas Stations Dry

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is shipping more fuel into Alberta after surging demand from motorists, including visitors attending the annual Calgary Stampede, drained pumps dry in the Canadian city.

Crowds for the Stampede, which bills itself as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” growing demand for fuel from motorists as the weather warms, and reduced supplies because of maintenance at Shell’s Scotford refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, led to “a kind of a perfect storm,” said Jeff Gabert, a spokesman for Shell Canada based in Calgary. “We did see a sharp increase in demand and when that happens we usually have inventory on hand, but demand was so strong, there were some supply crunches,” he said. “We had a big event last week in Calgary with the Stampede.”

The event, held July 9-18 and featuring rodeos, bull riding, chuck wagon races and calf roping on its program, drew more than 1.1 million visitors, according to its website. Landlocked Alberta in Western Canada is geographically isolated and “when there are gasoline shortages, it’s hard to make up for the shortages,” said Michael Ervin, a Calgary-based energy industry consultant at MJ Ervin & Associates.

he average retail price of unleaded gasoline in Calgary today was 91.553 Canadian cents a liter ($3.47 a gallon) according to the GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks gasoline prices in the U.S. and Canada. The average in Alberta was 90.687 cents a liter. The average U.S. pump price for regular gasoline rose 0.4 cent to $2.722 a gallon in the week ended July 19, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Energy Department.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-21/calgary-gasoline-stations-run-dry-after-stampede-draws-thousands-to-city.html