An early winter and a late-arriving fuel tanker have revealed to many Cape Bretoners a precarious home heating oil supply.

On Friday, with a storm bearing down on the island, Heather Kearney discovered she was out of furnace oil. The mother of three young children called her regular supplier for a quick delivery.

"I said we're out of oil, and she said, 'Guess what, so are we,'" Kearney told CBC News on Monday.
 
Kearney was going to phone another oil company until she learned everyone on the island was experiencing the same shortage.

The Imperial Oil tanker that supplies Cape Breton's furnace oil was delayed. As a result, oil companies are making emergency deliveries only.

Kearney said a truck finally showed up at her home.

"I think what he said [was] they were trying to … spread the oil around as far as they could because all they had left was what was in the trucks," she said.

Ten years ago there were three companies delivering furnace oil to Cape Breton. Then Petro Canada and Irving Oil pulled out, leaving Imperial Oil as the only supplier.

Local fuel companies say Imperial Oil only keeps a few days' supply in its tanks to keep its expenses down, so when the delivery tanker is late, it doesn't take long to have an impact.

"Friday was quite a shock," said Al Pace, president of Sydco Fuels. "As a company, Sydco Fuels can do nothing about it but hope for the best."

Pace said people used up their furnace oil quickly because winter came early this year.

He said his company managed to get emergency supplies to all of its customers who ran out of oil. But if the tanker had been delayed a few more days, he said, Cape Bretoners would have been shivering in the cold.

"We're pretty well reliant on the efficiency of the Imperial Oil operation in bringing their tankers in on schedule," Pace said.

Pace wants Imperial Oil to keep more heating fuel in its storage terminal so crises like this can be avoided.

Calls to Imperial Oil were not returned.