This is a new one on us. In the USA, BP has issued a recall for petrol sold between August 13 and August 17 in the states of Illinois and Indiana.

Recalls for car-related problems are not uncommon, but we can’t remember a recall for petrol. Apparently a BP storage facility became contaminated and local drivers have been reporting problems with their cars – including one who apparently has incurred a $1,200 repair bill.

According to a story in Autoblog in the USA, the $1,200 repair bill was to drain the fuel tank, flush the fuel lines and replace the spark plugs. Apparently, just one dealer in Lansing, Illinois had over 60 calls about fuel-related problems.

BP issued a statement that said, “The company believes that fuel stored in a tank at the storage depot could cause hard starting, stalling and other drivability issues. The fuel may have been purchased by motorists patronizing BP and other retail outlets in Northwest Indiana during the past seven days. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused some of our customers.”

BP already has a brand that is near-toxic in the USA, given the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Indeed there was even speculation at the time that the BP brand would have to be withdrawn from the US market. Now, there is another bad news story for the company.