Company plans barrel-only sales at Kuujjuaq airport

Shell Canada says pilots at Kuujjuaq's airport will soon have to buy their aviation fuel in 205-litre barrels rather than purchasing only as much fuel as they need from a tank.

What's more, they'll have to do the refueling themselves.

The planned switch has angered private owners, who say that having to buy in bulk will cost them more because of wasted or unused fuel.

But Shell says it can no longer afford to dedicate the money and resources to maintaining a tank for aviation fuel at the airport, especially when thousands of litres of fuel often goes unsold and eventually becomes unfit for sale.

These owners, who include a handful of amateur pilots and outfitters, say they only recently discovered that Shell has decided to stop providing refueling services at the airport. They say the decision was made without any notification or consultation.

Since the Second World War, Kuujjuaq's airport has furnished Avgas to small planes in the community as part of its ramp services.

"Nevertheless, our future now looks dark, given Shell's bad planning and unilateral decisions," said one private plane owner, who fears refueling will also become more complicated for other small planes that travel through on a regular basis.

Kuujjuaq is the only airport in Nunavik which offers an Avgas service.

Shell, through its local distributor Halutik Enterprises, plans to keep a stock of Avgas in 205-litre drums available at the airport.

But the small airplane owners say these will cost almost $700 per drum, without including any refueling support, obliging them to spend more for less service.

They say it will be near impossible to find any other way to fuel their planes because heavy items and dangerous goods, such as barrels of fuel, can only be shipped to Nunavik via sealift.

But Claude Gadbois, the new manager of Halutik, said the same refueling option using barreled Avgas is offered in Iqaluit at the airport, where the system has worked well. He said pilots regularly check airport information before they arrive and know they have to order fuel before landing.

Gadbois said Shell was obliged to change its way of supplying Avgas because the fuel has been taking up valuable space in the tank farm.

As well, Avgas breaks down if it is left too long. Of the 100,000 litres of Avgas Shell ships up every year, sometimes about 20,000 litres remains unsold.

"From their point of view, it would be a lot easier just to use drums. It was costing them money because if the product becomes unsuitable for the airplanes, what can you do? It's very costly," Gadbois said.

Once the current stock of Avgas fuel is used up sometime in 2008, the storage equipment will be converted to hold diesel fuel and then all small airplane fueling will be done using barrels.

Some speculate the move may be linked to Shell Canada's plan to bail out of Kuujjuaq and sell its operations. The Fédération des cooperatives du Nouveau-Québec, which supplies fuel to most of Nunavik's communities, has been lukewarm on taking over fuel distribution in Kuujjuaq because of the huge investment required to upgrade the tank farm.

Kuujjuaq, whose population has grown substantially over recent years, has already experienced fuel storage problems.

This spring, Shell is reported to have used jet fuel for furnaces because there was no more regular heating fuel.