Fuel Oil News articles from April 2001

Fuel Oil News archives from April 2001

NORA finally becomes a reality.
April 1, 2001... Following a nearly unanimous approval in the 21-state industry referendum, the National Oilheat Research Alliance became a reality on Feb. 6 when the first organizational meeting was held. The following officers were elected at that meeting:...

BNL oil heat R&D "rising from the ashes".
April 1, 2001... Roger McDonald, long-time lead researcher for the oil heat R&D program at Brookhaven National Laboratory, reports that the program has "risen from the ashes again!" A new program manager was appointed to oversee the oil heat lab and has...

Vermont propane users balk at special charges.
April 1, 2001... The Vermont Attorney General's office is looking into complaints from some of the state's propane customers about separate line-item charges from a few propane dealers. One customer had complained that she had received a bill of $5.85 for...

Miami jury awards Exxon stations.
April 1, 2001... A federal jury ruled in February that Exxon Corp. cheated 10,000 station owners out of $500 million over a 12-year period by inflating wholesale fuel prices. The judge may decide to add interest from the pricing program that ran from 1983 to...

New low-sulfur regs could close refineries.
April 1, 2001... Many small refineries could close because of the new low-sulfur regulations recently enacted. Some 100 United States refineries that produce less than 80,000 barrels per day of refined product -- but make up about a fifth of the nation's total...

California power woes may spread.
April 1, 2001... As Californians brace for a summer of anticipated power shortages and the possibility of rolling blackouts, experts are warning their neighbors in states across the West to be ready for the possibility of sharing the pain. Natural gas supplies...

Honeywell acquires Tridelta Industries.
April 1, 2001... Honeywell has purchased key assets of Ohio-based Tridelta Industries, a manufacturer of air pressure and electronic controls for a variety of heating and cooking appliances, including furnaces, water heaters, boilers, pool heaters, rooftop...

NORA now!
April 1, 2001... Yes, the National Oilheat Research Alliance is finally a reality. It was officially launched at an organizational meeting on February 6 and collection of the mandatory $.002 per gallon allocation began on March 1. John Huber, the...

NEFI hosts "Energy Odyssey 2001".
April 1, 2001... The New England Fuel Institute will host "Energy Odyssey 2001" which includes the 2001 Heating and Energy Exposition and NEFI's simultaneous two-day annual convention. Both events will be held at the John B. Hynes Convention Center in Boston on...

January oil imports highest in decade.
April 1, 2001... The American consumer's consumption of petroleum energy in January was reflected in the highest level of imported refined fuels in more than a decade, the American Petroleum Institute reported. The 2.923 million imported barrels a day was a...

Star Gas acquires Midwest Tru-Gas.
April 1, 2001... Star Gas Partners, L.P., has finalized the purchase of Midwest Tru-Gas, a Wisconsin-based distributor of propane. Midwest Tru-Gas operates primarily in the Wisconsin and Florida markets, with additional branches located in Minnesota and...

Funding for construction at Ferris State approved.
April 1, 2001... Michigan Governor John Engler recently signed into law a bill approving state funding for a new facility for Ferris State University's College of Technology. The $18 million project includes extensive renovation of the University's Construction...

Kathy Boyle publishes book on collections.
April 1, 2001... The CPA'S Basic Guide to Credit & Collection Techniques by credit manager, trainer, consultant, and author Kathy Boyle (MCPA Publishers; Product Code 091001; Order Tel: (888) 777-7077) provides the first credit and collection book that simply...

Pricing data interlace completed.
April 1, 2001... DownstreamEnergy, a Web-enabled, supply-chain-management solutions provider for the refined petroleum products industry, and Petroleum Data Specialists, providers of an accounting system for petroleum marketers, have cooperated to provide...

Weil-McLain heats Baseball Hall of Fame.
April 1, 2001... Baseball has been very, very good to Weil-McLain. Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, two Weil-McLain Model 94 boilers are currently providing comfort heat to a facility that welcomes approximately 350,000 visitors...

Lochinvar new world HQ nears completion.
April 1, 2001... Lochinvar Corp., a manufacturer of water heaters, boilers, swimming pool heaters and hot-water storage tanks, announced plans to relocate its world headquarters to Lebanon, Tenn. Construction began May 1, 2000, at Lochinvar's 75-acre site and...

AHR Expo-Mexico moves to Mexico City.
April 1, 2001... The International Exposition Co. has announced that after three successful events in Monterrey, AHR Expo-Mexico is moving to Mexico City for 2001. The show will be held in the Palacio de los Deportes, September 2527, and is again sponsored by...

Scully Automatic Fuel Re-Order System.
April 1, 2001... Scul-Tel II is designed to link businesses to their customers' tanks through existing phone lines. This automatic re-order system monitors tank level, household temperature and burner lockout. When tanks need filling, the system automatically...

LC truck meters provide accurate measurement.
April 1, 2001... Liquid Controls, a division of Idex Corp., has more than 45 years experience in supplying a full line of truck meters for accurate measurement of petroleum products in the oil handling industry. LC's offerings include LectroCount electronic...

Philly ball-valve nozzle gives dependable service.
April 1, 2001... The new Philly ball-valve nozzle Model 2000 provides unparalleled convenience and dependability in fuel oil deliveries. Constructed of the finest-quality materials, it is designed for accurate and trouble-free fuel dispensing in adverse...

Viking gear pumps for many applications.
April 1, 2001... Viking Pump offers internal gear fuel oil pumps from 0.1 to 1,500 gallons per minute with pressures to 250 pounds per square inch, and external gear pumps from 0.1 to 32 gal./min. with pressures to 1,500 psi. Viking has nearly a century of...

Heat-shrink kits for EnviroTube.
April 1, 2001... LDC Enviro Corp., manufacturers of the only patented PVC-jacketed Type L copper for underground or under concrete fuel lines, has a heat-shrink kit available for all sizes of EnviroTube. EnviroTube is available in 3/8-, 1/2- and 5/8-inch...

AST has concrete outer shell.
April 1, 2001... The EcoVault UL 2085 Protected Aboveground Storage Tank has a concrete outer shell precise in two sections to keep the primary steel cylindrical tank accessible. It has a true interstitial air space between the tank and vault, and exceeds all...

Tank-gauging system handles 16 sensors.
April 1, 2001... Petro Vend's new SiteSentinel 1 integrated tank-gauging system monitors any combination of 16 tank probes and/or sensors. It displays inventory, delivery, alarm and leak-test information at the touch of a button through a series of intuitive...

Coil Scrubber cleans boilers.
April 1, 2001... Hamco's Coil Scrubber cleans domestic/commercial water coils, water heaters, super stores and steam boilers without cutting pipes or using acids. A domestic copper coil can be scrubbed clean in about 20 minutes using the Hamco proprietary...

Fiberglass-and-steel storage tanks.
April 1, 2001... Containment Solutions specializes in the manufacture of fiberglass composite and steel storage tanks. Its tanks include a full line of USTs and ASTs and compartment tanks for petroleum, automotive, chemical and water storage. It also has...

Strainers, filters, pumpsets and valves.
April 1, 2001... Kraissl manufactures Model 72 Simplex and Duplex strainers and filters for pipeline service in cast iron, steel, stainless steel, bronze, aluminum and other alloys. They're used to protect pumps, heat exchangers, meters, nozzles, valves and...

Leak detection for fuel oil transfer lines.
April 1, 2001... Oil Pro-Tec features a new concept in fuel oil tubing. The uniquely designed polyethylene coating protects both the environment form oil contaminants and the copper tubing form corrosion. The coating features special grooves that contain the...

Mass flow and density meter.
April 1, 2001... The Apollo A400 Coriolis mass flow and density meter is FMC Measurement Solutions' most recent addition to its line of measurement products for petroleum handling. The A400 meter is designed to measure mass-flow rates up to 20,000 pounds per...

Remote Fill Containment Termination Chamber.
April 1, 2001... Total Containment's Remote Fill Containment Termination Chamber is used in flexible-piping systems for the remote filling of USTs. It offers a unitized termination chamber for flex-pipe termination fillings, along with a spill containment...

Fleet-fueling system has key option.
April 1, 2001... Gasboy's Islander II system now has an option for a smart key reader similar to Gasboy's popular FleetKey. The key has read/write capability, giving fleet operators transportable odometers and user-selectable PINs. A mag card/smart key...

Truck flowmeter offers smooth operation.
April 1, 2001... Schlumberger offers the Neptune Type 4 MT petroleum truck flowmeter in 1-1/4-, 1-1/2-, 2- and 3-inch sizes. The large air release promotes smooth flow and high accuracy, especially with heavy oils. Strainer, air release valve and back pressure...

Hannay reels allow inverted installation.
April 1, 2001... Hannay IV 5000 Series power-rewind reels are designed for inverted installation to enable convenient curb or streetside fuel delivery. They feature a chain and sprocket drive rewind that is powered by an electric, hydraulic, or compressed air...

Integrated automatic Tank-gauge system.
April 1, 2001... Tuthill Transfer Systems integrates automatic tank calibration and precision inventory reconciliation into its Emco Electronics EECO System 2000 automatic tank gauge. This package is said to eliminate the waste and errors of manual data...

The facts about fuel de-aerators.
April 1, 2001... They protect and defend the entire heating system The major enemies of a typical oil burner are air and dirt, both being the major cause of equipment failure and excessive fuel consumption. Just how much air and dirt are present in fuel oil...

Beckett Acquires the France Igniter Line.
April 1, 2001... A Conversation with Kevin Beckett On March 1, 2001 Beckett and rance announced Beckett's acquisition of the France igniter line. In the following interview, Kevin Beckett, VP of Sales, Marketing and Engineering, talks about the deal and...

ASHRAE Show Report.
April 1, 2001... Almost 50,000 HVAC&R professionals, including more than 27,000 registered attendees and more than 22,000 exhibitor personnel, participated in AHR Expo 2001 in Atlanta, Jan. 29-31. The final tally of 27,470 attendees represents a significant...

How to run a successful propane business.
April 1, 2001... There are at least seven keys, but the first is that marketers provide a service, not a commodity Everyone has read or knows how to run a business into the ground. Some of you have actually seen companies do it. What did they do wrong? The...

Why service gas heat?
April 1, 2001... Taking time recently on a Friday afternoon to catch up on publications reading, I happened upon an article in the November 2000 Fuel Oil News titled as this one is titled -- less one word. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The fuel oil industry...

Strictly personal.
April 1, 2001... James Roche, Burnham Corp.'s special markets manager, retired at the end of December after 41 years with the company. As part of his duties, Roche had been responsible for Burnham's training program, including the Trade Talk seminars. Glenn...

A good idea to get and keep employees.
April 1, 2001... Can you help me get good people? How can I motivate my key people to stay? These two questions are asked again and again by most of my clients (and readers of this column). Well, here's a tax idea that answers a loud "Yes" to both...

Understanding the oil pump -Part 1.
April 1, 2001... In order to understand the burner's oil pump, you should first be familiar with the brands and the language that is most common when referring to oil pumps. Let's first begin with the pump names that you could encounter in the field -- Suntec,...

It's Showtime!
April 1, 2001... AREE, RPA, NAOHSM expos are just part of the spring show season As always, the return of spring signals the start of the show season for heating oil dealers and there are shows aplenty for dealers throughout the country. The season...

Fuel Price Index April 2001.
April 1, 2001... Fuel Price Index April 2001 CURRENT CHNG FROM CHNG FROM PRICE LAST MONTH LAST YEAR CASH/SPOT PRICES UNLEADED GASOLINE .7765 -.0780 ...