Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Friday, February 16, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - The rash of fuel pump failures that occurred last month seems to be limited to the Yellowknife and Hay River area, according to two major petroleum suppliers.

Imperial Oil is now investigating the reports of fuel pump failures here, joining Shell Canada, who reported last month that they were investigating several reports of customers having to repeatedly replace fuel pumps for no apparent reason.

Customers and staff at Shell Canada suspected new low-emissions fuel might be causing the failures, as regulations limiting sulphur content recently took effect.

Shell Canada spokesperson Jana Saunderson has since reported that testing has confirmed that furnace oil sold in Yellowknife meets all the product specifications determined by the Canadian General Standards Board, including sufficient levels of "lubricity."

"At this point we're still continuing to test both the fuel and the fuel pumps," said Saunderson.

Both Saunderson and Kim Faulks, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, said that the number of reports has been relatively small, although significant enough to lead to an investigation.

Faulks said that Imperial Oil has informed the Petroleum Products Division of NWT's Department of Public Works and Services.

John Vandenberg, director of the Petroleum Products Division, said his department can't do much to assist the investigation.

"The government doesn't have any chemists on staff," said Vandenberg. "We look to refiners for technical expertise."

The mandate of the Petroleum Products Division is to provide services to communities not profitable to private businesses. They have not received any complaints from customers in the smaller communities.

Ron Hamilton, spokesperson for Petro Canada, said that Petro Canada has still not received any reports of fuel pump failures.