US heating oil dealers seek help amid cash crunch

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. heating oil distributors said Friday they were seeking federal help to ease a cash crunch this winter caused by delayed payments from low-income customers and sky-high prices for their own fuel inventory.

The squeeze mirrors problems faced by dealers in 2004, when a run up in energy prices pushed the nation's leading heating oil distributor to the brink of bankruptcy.

"It's brutal," said Shane Sweet, CEO of the New England Fuel Institute (NEFI), which represents about 1,000 distributors and retailers in the northeastern states. He said customers occasionally ring their fuel dealers in tears over their heating bills.

"I was talking with heating oil dealers and gasoline station convenience store operators, and in terms of cost of fuel and the impact that it has to their operations, it's the worst year that most people can ever remember," Sweet said.

The average residential heating oil price paid by Americans surged to a record $3.68 per gallon this week, up more than 40 percent from a year ago, alongside a surge in the price of crude oil to all-time highs, according to government data.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1441025620080314?sp=true

[clarence swinney]

1. Heat less expensive

1370 Sq ft per floor

First floor--Oil Furnace Heat.
Second Floor--electric oil heated radiators

Radiators $31. Lowe's Hardware
Settings 0 to 12.
One heats two bedrooms,hallway and bathroom.
Rare to put on 6 or 50%

One in office. Usually kept on 3 or one fourth.

Two months--

Oil Bill for downtstairs $720.
Electric bill for upstairs $80.

Be Smart Find cheat method.

Highway gas mileage.

CRUISE ON 60MPH==10 + miles per gallon

All Interstate drivers do it and no more ME Oil needed.

[Acadia Blue]

2. Jimmy Carter's 55 MPH taken away along with his solar collectors

on the W. House roof by the old greed pig Reagan

[Lorien]

3. My oil furnace died last year

I put oil heated radiators in the rooms I use the most, wear polar fleece when it gets below 35 degrees, and so far so good! I figure that I've save about $1,200.00 over last year when I had the furnace.

[roamer65]

4. I hope spring comes early this year.

That would help these people more than anything else. There certainly will be no help from the Bush Crime Family.