Area BP Stations Out of GasBy Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
03:49PM / Tuesday, April 17, 2012 | |
 Signs at the North Adams BP station on Eagle Street tell customers that they are out of gas but are not sure when the company will begin delivering again. |
Employees at the North Adams store said they are remaining open and their 'loyal customers' are keeping the store busy while they wait. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The county's BP gasoline stations are waiting on the corporation to fill their gas tanks.
More than 200 BP stations in the Northeast have been running out of fuel since last week as the company seeks a new gas distributor. The company ended its contract on Friday with the Rhode Island distributor Green Valley Oil, which delivered to 218 stores in four New England states — more than 100 of those in Massachusetts.
The company released a statement on Thursday saying it is currently seeking a new regional distributor and hopes to refill the stations by the end of the month.
Locally, iBerkshires has confirmed that the BP stations in North Adams and Lanesborough are without gas. We have also been told but have not confirmed that some of the county's Getty stations are out as well.
At the North Adams station, signs assure customers that the company is addressing the issue and that it is out of the local owner's control. Motorists can still buy cigarettes and other incidentals at the small convenience booth.
Many of the stations began running out of gas last week as a result of legal issues between Getty Petroleum Marking Inc., which owns the stations, and the distributor. Getty filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 5 and on April 2, bankruptcy court ruled that Green Valley Oil pay Getty $18.9 million in fixed rent as well as a surrender all its properties to Getty.
Green Valley currently controls the distributions that started becoming more infrequent about a month ago when the companies were tied up in court.
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