Please tell me one and all, how much heating oil you plan to purchase above normal.

Specifically how many gals. does your tank hold at home and how full do you plan to keep it this winter (toward end Dec. vs. normal.).

Also, please include any interesting Y2K snippets you've recieved from your local heating oil supplier. Thanks in advance

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), October 05, 1999

Answers

Gordon, I'm planning on purchasing around 144,000 gallons, but I'm not sure what month for delivery!

Seriously, I would like to have only one "digital asset" remaining over the rollover -- and I'm leaning towards a heating oil contract (seems like plenty of opportunity for shortages -- pumping, tankers, refining).

I follow your posts and would appreciate your thoughts re: entry price and exp. month for an option.

-- DaveW (dwood@southwind.net), October 05, 1999.

Oh, forgot to mention that I don't have a tank (natural gas primary, fireplace & kerosene Y2K backup).

Both local oil suppliers I discussed Y2K with considered the whole issue to be hype .. no stockpiling there.

-- DaveW (dwood@southwind.net), October 05, 1999.

Dave W- Why a heating oil contract instead of crude oil? i was planning on buying a crude oil contract sometime in the near future or sooner if the price goes down a little more. with saudia arabia, venezuela, etc. not prepared for y2k, i am assuming supply and demand will drive the price sky high after the first of the year.but then i guess the same would hold true for heating oil. gordon- don't use heating oil, so am clueless.-- dory

-- dory (crtwheel@eburg.com), October 06, 1999.

We can heat entire house with wood this winter from wood laid in (every winter, actually, from wood on property). We used 540 gallons last winter, prep-paid 650 gallons this year at $ .84.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), October 06, 1999.

The tank at the farm is about 350 gallons. It will be filled in early November (200+ gallons?) and then not hopefully not used (wood being preferred, but oil kicks in auto. if house gets cold - e.g. we are gone and can't stoke wood).

The oil man says his *only* fear about y2k is "Everyone is going to want to top off in December, and we can't meet that much demand, so won't service you if you are more than 50% full."

P.S. Thanks for your insightful posts in the past. Please keep 'em coming!

-- TrustHim (ItComes@Soon.now), October 06, 1999.

Current tank holds 250 gal.

Have 500 gal. tank on order. Both will be full.

Furnace (boiler, hot water baseboard)is dual fuel: can set it up to burn wood and only switch to oil if the wood fire goes out, or can set it up to ONLY burn wood.

Not a big deal.......the 250 gallon tank is too small anyway (I'd like to be able to order fuel once a year, and the additional 500 gallon tank will let me do that.)

-- de (delewis@XOUTinetone.net), October 06, 1999.

Dory, I'll share my reasoning for heating oil over crude, but my assumptions are not necessarily valid.

Crude needs to be refined, so it seems logical that gasoline or heating oil would be at greater risk (I'm thinking embedded systems). Theoretically, crude could be delivered while there was a bottleneck in refining -- resulting in a "surplus" of crude?

Second, I believe heating oil is pretty close to diesel, which is somewhat below kerosene (jet fuel). A hugh spike in oil products would curtail a lot of discretionary automotive travel, but the diesel trains carrying the coal, the oil-fired power plants, and the military will have priority (eg. sorry, no gas for you -- all our refinery production has been allocated for national security).

Just my theory, Dory. I'm not "recommending" a strategy and would defer to others more knowledgable in the energy business. Your thoughts?

-- DaveW (dwood@southwind.net), October 06, 1999.

<, prep-paid 650 gallons this year at $ .84. >>

We pre-paid 1500 gallons of propane at $.68. I'd rather have it in the tank, but a contract is the next best thing.

-- David Palm (djpalm64@yahoo.com), October 06, 1999.

Gordon ... Nearly filled my 550 tank in September;will top off in November. However, after the oil problems in the 70's , I bought a furnace that burns wood, coal OR oil ! Have stocked the basement with free wood scrap from the million dollar homes they are building across the street. AND, I have a half ton of coal I have been saving that was in my Moms basement when she died in 1981. You may wonder how I had the forsight to bag and haul this to my home at such an early date. Had one of my many " premonitions " in 1981, that there would be terrible calamity in 2000, including shortages, fighting and anarchy. Have been preparing ever since, because my premonitions haven't been wrong in 50 years !!! Sorry ! Nothing on the market, BUT I still think the metal to have will be silver one ounce coins, as the price has been artifically pushed to 70 to 1 with gold, and historically (until crooked politicians became envolved in late 1800's) it was 10 to 1 with gold for 5000 years. Will be MUCH easier to buy small quanities of goods, AND should return to , say 20 to 1 at least with gold , because Joe six-pack won't be able to afford a one ounce gold coin at $1500+ in 2000. Forgive the OT to the main question, but it is important to the little guy , ME ! Eagle

-- Hal Walker (e999eagle@freewwweb.com), October 06, 1999.