A gasoline shortage is affecting service stations Friday ranging from Halifax to Truro.

The shortage arrives as thousands of people leave Halifax for the long weekend. Fans eager to make it to Moncton early for the U2 concert in Moncton, N.B., added even more demand at the pumps.

The Imperial Oil refinery in Dartmouth has been offline since a thunderstorm July 21 shut off power at the plant. The refinery normally supplies diesel and gasoline to all types of service stations in Nova Scotia.

To minimize further disruptions the refinery stayed closed while the company moved up its annual maintenance shutdown, which had been planned for early next month.

Staff at some stations said they were expecting deliveries Friday night, but there's some worry that the fuel won't make it to all the stations that are expecting it.

Stations running out or low

The Petro-Canada closest to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport is out of fuel.

The Petro-Canada and Esso just off highway 102 at Exit 8 in Elmsdale are also out of fuel. Irving expects to be out soon.

The Esso gas station at Exit 11 on Highway 102 — as of 8 p.m. — was running low on regular and was out of high- and medium-octane gasoline.

Gas stations in Brookfield and Stewiacke were running low.

In Halifax, stations in Spryfield, Clayton Park, Fall River, Milford and Rockingham were running low.