The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet Dec. 4 to discuss its strategies for supporting crude prices. Crude markets will likely experience volatility ahead of that meeting as crude traders try to determine their position. We expect OPEC will not make changes to its current strategy, so the meeting and all the positioning ahead of it will likely... read more
ValvTect Petroleum Products of Northbrook, Ill., acquired Energy Additives Inc. of Battle Creek, Mich. ValvTect Petroleum supplies fuel additives to fuel distributors across the United States. Energy Additives has been in business since 1984 under Lloyd and Nancy Lack. It supplies propane fuel additives and distributes Blue Moon propane filtration systems. Jerry Nessenson, founder of ValvTect Petroleum, says Energy Additives’... read more
Inland Fuel Terminals Inc., a subsidiary of Santa Energy Corp., opened a 540,000-gallon propane rail facility in Plymouth, Conn. Hillel Weisel, vice president of Inland Fuel Terminals, says the propane rail facility is the largest of its kind in Connecticut. He adds the new facility offers major highway access into New York, Connecticut and western Massachusetts. The terminal features eight... read more
2015 LP Gas attendees, including Rick Card of D.F. Richard Energy, Carlton Revere of Revere Gas and Randy Sams of Sams Gas, discuss what technology they’ve incorporated into their businesses to help drive success. read more
Gallon growth was at the center of the LP Gas Growth Summit, which included a keynote address by Cinch Munson, director of agriculture business development for the Propane Education & Research Council. Munson spotlighted several propane growth opportunities in the ag market, including greenhouse heat, animal heat and flame weeding. But he presented irrigation engines as a considerable opportunity on... read more
Technology Assurance Labs debuted a remote tank monitoring radio aimed at the underground tank market. The tank monitor radio fits under the dome of underground tanks, with a flush mounted external antenna on top of the dome. The device regularly transmits tank-level data to a dealer’s Overhead Wireless Logic System (OWL) software portal, which can be accessed with a laptop,... read more
The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) approved a 2016 budget of $47.6 million during its November meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. According to the council, the budget will fund a new consumer education campaign, safety and training programs and the ongoing development of propane-fueled products designed to drive new demand for the fuel. The budget maintains an assessment rate... read more
The ANSI Z21/83 Committee on gas appliances and subcommittees reelected Bruce Swiecicki to serve a second three-year term as its chairman. The ANSI Z21/83 Committee writes and maintains standards for fuel gas burning appliances and equipment. Outside the committee, Swiecicki serves as the National Propane Gas Association’s senior staff engineer and its senior technical adviser. read more
Attendees at the 2015 LP Gas Growth Summit, including Brian Powers of Indiantown Gas Co.; Mark Zimora of Energy Distribution Partners; and Randy Sams of Sams Gas, share their takes on the current state of the propane industry. read more
The Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending Nov. 13 reported U.S. crude inventory, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, at 487.286 million barrels. The high for the year was set on April 24 at 490.912 million barrels. The current inventory position exceeds anything we have seen. The five-year average inventory position for this point in the... read more
