Mix-up at terminal led to premium-gas shortage here

An error at a gasoline storage terminal in Savannah last week led to the wrong octane gas being delivered to some southern Beaufort County service stations, preventing them from selling premium-grade fuel over Memorial Day weekend.

Rob Demere, president of Colonial Group Inc., said an error made at his company's terminal last week resulted in 90-octane gas going out to stations, instead of the 93-octane gas most sell as premium.

Colonial was working to deliver higher octane gas, around 94 octane, to stations to blend with the lower octane gas so that it could be sold as premium, Demere said.

Among the stations affected were Enmark, which Colonial owns, Sunoco, BP Kangaroo and Chevron stations, according to various sources.

Keith Bell, senior vice president of fuels for The Pantry Inc., said 12 area BP Kangaroo stations, from Hilton Head Island to Savannah, were left without premium-grade fuel over the weekend. It is unclear exactly how many stations had incorrect fuel delivered.

The stations instead sold the fuel as regular or mid-grade gas to empty tanks for the proper 93-octane fuel, Bell said.

As of Wednesday morning, Bell said, most of the stations had premium-grade gas back, and the others were close.

Thomas Golembeski, manager of media and public relations for Sunoco, said area Sunoco stations closed premium pumps and drained the tanks after the wrong octane fuel was discovered.

"We never want customers to question the quality of the fuel we supply or the value they get for their money," Golembeski said.

Sunoco stations had premium fuel back in supply by Wednesday morning, he said.

Carol Fulmer, director of the consumer services division at the state Department of Agriculture, which regulates gas stations, said Chevron stations were also affected.

Calls to area Chevron stations met with denials of any problems from store clerks.

Fulmer said it was very unusual for a terminal to make a mistake mixing gas, something Bell and Demere echoed.

The Department of Agriculture considers the matter closed and will not investigate further or issue fines, Fulmer said.

From a local mechanic to the Department of Agriculture to Colonial, the experts agreed that cars that need premium fuel would not have been damaged if they were accidentally filled with lower octane gas or were filled with regular gas because of a shortage of premium over the weekend.