CALGARY, Alberta — Fears of a massive price increase for gasoline — partly sparked by a mistaken posting of 92.9 cents a litre at one station, but mostly fueled by rumors — had Calgary motorists lining up at the gas pumps Friday.
“It sure sent the city into a spin,” said Fred Crane, owner of Lakeside Shell.
“I’ve been here for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Cars are lined up out to the street right now.”
The panic began late Thursday afternoon, when the rumor mill churned talk of gas prices leaping from 78.5 cents a litre to the mid-90-cent range. The buzz was that gas prices leaped in Edmonton, then skyrocketed in Lethbridge.
A young gas jockey at Crane’s Shell station got pumped up, and hiked his prices to 92.9 for two hours Thursday night.
“He got all tied up in the excitement and made a call that wasn’t the right one,” Crane said.
For the next day, thousands of Calgarians raced to the pumps to fuel up in hopes of saving a few bucks.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Helen Budnyk said while waiting in line to fill up at 78.5 cents a litre. “We have so much gas in Alberta, so why should we pay so much?”
An Exxon station in Red Deer jumped into the fray by boosting prices Friday morning to 93.3 cents a litre while its competitors sold gas for as low as 75.5 cents.
“It’s scary, I can’t afford to drive this car any more,” said Mavis Pullman .
“I can never understand this gas thing — up and down, up and down.”
