Sam Babcock didn’t think much of it when he got a call that his company’s fuel inventory was missing a massive amount.
Typically, the BG Fuels territory manager in southern Alberta would chalk up the dip to a simple input error. Babcock didn’t realize the loss was the first in a string of thefts equalling a loss of roughly 10,000 litres of diesel fuel, costing the company approximately $20,000.
“We’ve never seen this. Never across the country as well. At least in my time here, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Babcock.
BG Fuels is a Canadian wholesaler operating under the Mobil, Esso and Waypoint Convenience brands around the country. It’s raising alarm after three Mobil gas stations in Calgary were hit with thefts in the last few weeks, with diesel fuel pulled directly out of underground tanks.
Most of the total was sucked up in an initial incident where the company lost about 8,000 litres of fuel, Babcock said.
After reviewing surveillance footage of the first theft, Babcock said it showed a truck arrive at around 4 a.m. while the station was closed and remain for roughly 25 minutes while removing diesel from the site, before driving away.
Given that a large commercial truck was used to store the fuel, Babcock pointed out anyone driving by at that hour wouldn’t have thought anything suspicious was amiss.
But the thefts are creating a lot of stress for station agents, he said.
“A lot of them have come at nighttime to check in on their sites. They can’t sleep,” said Babcock, who oversees 28 gas stations in southern Alberta.
Surveillance footage shows something went wrong for the perpetrators during the second theft, resulting in only about 50 litres taken. About 2,000 litres was stolen during the final theft, Babcock said. The company said it believes the same perpetrators were involved in all three thefts, judging from the footage.
The thefts present a large safety concern, Babcock said, as the amount of diesel stolen is a lot of flammable material that needs to be handled correctly.
The Calgary Police Service confirmed on Tuesday that it is investigating the incidents.
Nick Wilsher, a sergeant with the service’s crime prevention team, said that while smaller thefts involving siphoning fuel are more common, thefts like what BG reported are unusual.
Wilsher compared the market for fuel to other online marketplaces where a consumer may see a cheap product, know its low price may be because it’s stolen, and “pretend ‘well, maybe it’s not.’”
“It’s not a victimless crime … Those costs are passed on to you as the consumer,” said Wilsher.
“You might think you’re getting a deal, but you’re actually making it more expensive for everybody else, including yourself when you can’t buy this cheap diesel anymore. You’re going to have to get it at the pump.”
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Wilsher said retailers could look to increase security, improve locks and introduce tamper-proof alarm systems and more video surveillance to protect against thefts.
He added that the surveillance footage recovered by BG is helpful to show police the kind of vehicle used in the thefts, where they came from and drove to, and to potentially give them a closer look at the people involved.
