Florida, Louisiana Gas Stations Halt Sales of Bad Fuel

Roughly 600 Shell and Texaco gasoline stations in parts of Florida and Louisiana temporarily halted their sales after customers complained the gasoline damaged their fuel gauge sensors, Shell Oil said Friday.

“We’ve asked our Shell and affiliated Texaco branded stations that were affected to stop selling gasoline due to elevated levels of sulfur in the fuel,” said a Shell spokeswoman.

Gasoline with excess sulfur can damage fuel gauges, leaving drivers vulnerable to running out of gas without warning, she said.

This could prove inconvenient for motorists planning to get away for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend — typically the kick off for the peak summer driving season in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of motor fuel.

The problem caused the closure of 140 gas stations in New Orleans, Louisiana, amounting to 40 percent of the city’s stations, and 450 stations in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa and Sarasota in Florida, adding up to five percent of the stations in the Sunshine State.

The fuel was produced from Shell’s joint venture Motiva LLC refinery in Norco, Louisiana, the spokeswoman said. She added that the refinery continued to operate during an investigation into the cause of the high sulfur levels.

The gasoline was sold from the company’s Kenner, Louisiana, fuel terminal, where the stored gasoline has since been treated with an additive to lower the sulfur content.

The spokeswoman added that the gasoline at the affected retail stations would be returned and treated to remove the excess sulfur.

Shell Oil is a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

Reuters