NDP calls for emergency meeting to discuss potential gas shortage

Risk of shortage due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma

HALIFAX – The NDP Caucus is calling for an emergency meeting of the Legislature’s Resources Committee to discuss the risk of a gas shortage due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Nova Scotia last experienced a gas shortage in August 2015.

“In 2015, we saw what can happen when there is a gas shortage. Following that, an independent review panel made several recommendations to improve energy security, and the public deserves an update on what the Liberal government and the private sector have done since then,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill.

NDP members on the Resources Committee, Lisa Roberts and Claudia Chender, sent a letter today to the Committee Chair, Suzanne Lohnes-Croft, requesting the emergency meeting. The letter recommends that representatives from the Emergency Management Office, Imperial Oil, and Irving Oil appear before the committee.

Gas prices have gone up by almost 15 per cent in the past week and at least two East Coast refiners, Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Irving Oil, have run out of gasoline for immediate delivery since Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma is also projected to make landfall in the United States, potentially causing further disruptions in the oil and gas sector.

“While everyone’s mind is on the price they’re paying at the pumps, someone also needs to be keeping an eye on a potential gas shortage,” said Burrill. “We know the Liberal government has missed the mark on this in the past and the public has a right to know what, if anything, has changed.”

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