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Permalink Reply by J. A. on March 21, 2009 at 13:03

Nat. Gas is much cheaper than oil but there is no infrastructure for the lines. The oil is very expensive. The north east has large propane tanks that are ugly

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Permalink Reply by Pipeliner on March 21, 2009 at 14:36

The problem with areas that use the most fuel oil is those areas are full of "Not-In-My-Backyard" type people. They fight tooth & nail to block any pipelines, natural gas and any other type, from being built.
They are against any LNG import terminals.

"Been there, done that and got the Tee Shirt".

Let Venezuela give them free fuel oil through Robert Kennedy, Jr.

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 22, 2009 at 3:37

JA, just to clarify that heating oil and propane are two different fuels. The heating oil used in the Northeast US is very similar to diesel in characteristics and price.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 21, 2009 at 14:26

These systems were put in place years ago when heating oil was the fuel of chose. It is used in highly populated places mainly on the East coast. The expense it takes to replace these units is very high, so many chose to just make repairs on old systems instead of replacement and upgrading to NG. There is no advantage to the use of it because it polutes and is more expensive but the cost of replacement in an old home makes it easier on a lot of peoples budget in the short term.

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Permalink Reply by Checkmateking on March 21, 2009 at 15:03

It's funny you never see Democrats attacking heating oil, they would never do anything to alienate their urban base that keeps them in power. They would rather beg it from left wing marxist dictators like Chavez than do whats right .

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Permalink Reply by J. A. on March 21, 2009 at 15:14

That's a good point checkmateking... I would love some integrity for a change I could believe in!
I am praying as I wrote that.

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Permalink Reply by Checkmateking on March 21, 2009 at 15:18

check out my post on Obama's umpcoming 10 trillion dollar deficit, not that it matters because our money won't be worth anything anyway, if you wanted change you got it, quadruple Bush's deficit. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 21, 2009 at 18:31

Herefordsnshale, as others have mentioned the fuel oil systems were put into place before natural gas was available. Remember natural gas was not readily available in the Northeast until the 1950's. It is difficult to add the gas distribution network in populated areas but natural gas is generally available now to any consumer. A few months ago I did a comparison of retail fuel oil prices versus natural gas for a friend who wanted to see the potential savings for converting from fuel oil. I projected natural gas should be ~ 20-30% cheaper for the NYC consumer. By the way, one barrel of fuel oil is equivalent to ~ 5.66 Mcf of natural gas.

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Permalink Reply by herefordsnshale on March 22, 2009 at 3:34

Thanks everyone for the information. This is very interesting. Heating oil has seemed to me to be a petroleum product easily replaced but not knowing all the facts I couldn't be sure. I had no idea there could be as much as 30% of costs saved by switching to natural gas. It kind of makes me more resentful than I was of those urban types who point fingers at those of us who drive "gas-guzzling" 4x4 pickups!

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Permalink Reply by herefordsnshale on March 22, 2009 at 3:43

There's also the fact that the Marcellus Shale is sitting right up there in Pennsylvania--I know it will take a while to develop the infrastructure to get it to the cities, but it seems like a golden opportunity for them. They could make heating oil obselete in a decade or so.

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on March 22, 2009 at 4:03

Herefordsnshale, actually the gas transmission infrastructure already exists since many of the pipelines from the Gulf Coast pass right thru the Marcellus Shale region. Several parties are installing gathering lines, treating/processing plants & other facilities as wells are being drilled. The main challenges that are impacing speed of development are topography, well permitting and water access & disposal.

Basically heating oil has been obsolete for some time in the Northeast and gradually losing market share. The Marcellus Shale will likely further reduce the cost of natural gas for the Northeast and the addition of greenhouse gas fees will make the gap between fuel oil and natural gas even larger.

By the way, fuel oil generates ~ 50% more CO2 per MMBtu than natural gas.

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Permalink Reply by herefordsnshale on March 22, 2009 at 4:22

I'm glad to hear that there is already progress being made. Switching to natural gas just seems like a win-win situation for that region. They get to reduce their dependence on foreign oil and have a cleaner burning fuel as well, and to top it off it's cheaper!

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