Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Petro-Canada dispatched rail cars from Montreal after a storm-related power outage July 18 shut units at its refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, causing a shortage of the fuel at more than 50 of the company’s filling stations.

“We are doing a number of things to alleviate the supply situation,” said Sneh Seetal, a company spokeswoman, in a telephone interview. Between July 20 and July 24, the company loaded 32 rail cars in Montreal with fuel to augment the shortage, she said.

Following a shutdown of units due to the storm, the company completed repairs on a catalytic cracker and on July 27 began production at its 135,000-barrel-a-day refinery. “Really we’ve moved from a production problem to an inventory and delivery problem, Seetal said.

More than 50 Petro-Canada stations have run out of supply, mainly in the province of Alberta. A “handful of sites” in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia also have been affected, she said.

Imperial Oil Co. had sites that were out of gasoline, said Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for the company, in a telephone interview Aug. 3. The company, which also shut units at its 184,000-barrel-a-day Strathcona refinery after the July 18 outage, said operations at the plant, located near Edmonton, were back to normal on July 27.

The past holiday weekend in Canada resulted in a surge in demand that exacerbated supply and logistical problems in replenishing the stations, Seetal said. “We’re doing all we can to turn the corner,” she said, declining to estimate when all stations will be replenished.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in New York at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 5, 2009 12:30 EDT