Nearly 100 stations in Ontario are running low on fuel following a recent fire at an Imperial Oil refinery.

"It was just the one event that made it, for Esso, difficult to supply all of its customers," Robert Theberge, a spokesman for Imperial Oil Ltd., said on Tuesday.

"We do regret the inconvenience it's creating," Theberge said of the fire at the Nanticoke, Ont. refinery.

The shortage affects 75 of 400 Esso stations and about 10 Canadian Tire stations. Theberge noted there are 2,000 gas stations in Ontario.

He estimated the situation might not be resolved until the middle of next week.

At some stations in Ontario, prices climbed past the 90-cent-a-litre mark while other locations temporary closed their pumps.

"You will notice that the price has jumped a dime or 15 cents in the last week or so," said pump technician Doug Wagar.

"I think right now, we have to ration people and not fill up jerry cans and keep a little bit for everybody," said Monica Tailleur, a gas retailer in Sudbury, Ont.

The fire behind all this broke out Thursday at a crude-oil processing unit in the refinery, which produces about 118,000 barrels of fuel a day. It was put out in about two hours.

The 28-year-old Nanticoke refinery produces unleaded gasoline, diesel fuel, heavy fuel oil, asphalt, propane and butane.

Last week's fire was the second one at an Imperial refinery in two months. An explosion and fire destroyed a hydrocracking unit at the company's Sarnia, Ont. refinery in mid-December.

Thursday's fire at was one of several factors playing a role in the fuel shortage, Theberge said.

Others include:

• A dwindling supply caused by demand for ethanol
• The CN Rail strike, which has left Imperial Oil trucks unavailable to help transport fuel
• Cold weather, which has made it difficult for ships to transport fuel to Canada from the U.S. via the Great Lakes

"It's the straw that broke the camel's back," Theberge said of the fire at the Nanticoke refinery, southwest of Hamilton on the north shore of Lake Erie.

Of the CN strike, he said: "They have to be moving product for us. They are not moving them as efficiently as they used to, so it causes stress."

Imperial's competitors in the industry have come forward to say they can meet consumer demand, Theberge said.

Imperial is 69.6 per cent owned by Exxon Mobil Corp.

With a report from CTV's Scott Laurie and files from The Canadian Press