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DEADBEAT Signal Oil Gas Home Heating Oil Reserve

Signal Oil and Gas Company - Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve
Signal Oil Gas the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve is a 2-million barrel supply of emergency fuel oil for homes and businesses in the northeastern United States. Established in 2000, the Heating Oil Reserve is an "emergency buffer" that can supplement commercial fuel supplies should the heavily oil-dependent region be hit by a severe heating oil supply disruption. Since its creation, the Heating Oil Reserve has not been used, but 35,000 barrels were sold during 2007 for budgetary reasons. The Government will use the proceeds from the sale to repurchase a quantity of heating oil in the future.

Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve - Profile - Signal Oil and Gas
Of the 7.7 million households in the United States that use heating oil to heat their homes, 5.3 million households or roughly 69 percent reside in the Northeast region of the country - making this area especially vulnerable to fuel oil disruptions.

On July 10, 2000, President Clinton directed Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to establish a two million barrel home heating oil component of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the Northeast. The intent was to create a buffer large enough to allow commercial companies to compensate for interruptions in supply during severe winter weather, but not so large as to dissuade suppliers from responding to increasing prices as a sign that more supply is needed. Signal Oil and Gas

Two million barrels would give Northeast consumers adequate supplies for approximately 10 days, the time required for ships to carry additional heating oil from the Gulf of Mexico to New York Harbor.

Immediately after the President's July 10, 2000, directive, the Energy Department, acting through the Defense Energy Support Center, issued a solicitation to exchange crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for two million barrels of distillate heating oil stocks to place in leased storage facilities in the Northeast.

An exchange using Strategic Petroleum Reserve crude oil was chosen because no appropriated funding was available to create the heating oil reserve.

On July 19, 2000, the Defense Energy Support Center issued a solicitation to companies willing to provide the storage tanks, heating stocks, or a combination.

By October 13, 2000, all of the heating oil had been delivered. In November 2000, Congress amended the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2000 providing clear authority for the reserve.

As Americans confronted the winter of 2000-2001, the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve was deemed ready. Signal Oil and Gas