EXCLUSIVE: No Gas at Local BP Gas Stations

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

There's no gas at 390 Belmont Street in Worcester

Several area BP gas stations are completely out of gas and some have been that way for as many as three days or longer. “I have no gas, just a little Super Unleaded,” Charles Habib, operator of the BP gas and service station at 390 Belmont St., told GoLocalWorcester. “I’ve been out all day, at least two days.”

A man identifying himself as the manager of the BP station on West Boylston Street said he has been without fuel since Friday and has no idea when he’ll get another delivery.

“I am out. All of them are out of gas,” he said of other area BP stations. “I know many that are out.”

The man did not want to give his name, but both he and Habib said a new company is taking over distribution to their stations. They identified the new distributor as the Pennsylvania-based Lehigh Gas Corporation and said the switch is taking place in May.

“A new broker is coming,” said Charles Habib, who operates the BP gas station at 390 Belmont Street in Worcester. “We are still getting some gas, but not much.”

Several messages left with Lehigh Gas were not immediately returned.

Habib identified the current supplier as Green Valley Oil, but repeated attempts to contact that company were unsuccessful.

Both Habib and the manager at the West Boylston Street station expressed confusion and frustration, saying their livelihoods have literally been put on hold.

“We have been out of gas since Friday,” the West Boylston Street manager said of other BP stations. “I don’t know why. I know another company is taking over in May. But why we have no gas, I don’t know.”

He estimated he had lost as much as $4,000 in business as a result of being unable to sell gasoline.

“I have a convenience store,” he said. “Nobody is coming in. They see the sign that says out of gas, they leave.”

Habib told a similar story, saying he relies entirely on the work he performs on vehicles in his service station. If customers pull up and discover there is no gas, they drive off.

“They think you’re going out of business when they see we have no gas,” Habib said.

He did not have an estimate as to how much money in potential sales he had lost, but Habib said he has lost thousands under the current supplier of gasoline.

“(The current distributor) has been killing us since he took over,” Habib said. “If there is justice, he should be sued. Since he came in, he priced us 10-15 cents higher than the competition until he killed our business.”

It was unclear whether he was referring to an individual or the fuel supplier.

While he earns little from the sale of gas, Habib said it is the traffic that comes through his station that leads to business at his garage. Without gas to sell, he said, there are no customers.

“Without gas, we’re losing money,” Habib said. “The garage is where I make my money. It’s how I pay my rent and survive.”

A BP spokesperson told GoLocalWorcester the company neither owns nor operates any of the stations in the area.

“BP simply sells the fuel to a third-party distributor,” Scott Dean said. “We keep the fuel at our storage terminals. We have nothing to do with the sale of a station or distribution.”

Much like Habib, the manager at the West Boylston station said there is little he can do until a new shipment of fuel arrives.

“What can I do? I have bills to pay,” he said. “I have electricity to pay for. I have insurance. There is nothing I can do.”