The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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10 OCTOBER 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com FUELS EIA NE WS REG DEVELOPING DISTILLED BIODIESEL REG will soon be bringing distilled biodiesel to distribution points in the Northeast market, said Barry Knox, director of blended fuel sales. Distilled biodiesel has lower carbon intensity (CI) than non- distilled biodiesel and much lower CI than petroleum diesel, Knox said during a recent webinar co-hosted by REG and Fuel Oil News. Knox said CI is an important standard that is now being specified by municipalities and in RFPs from large corporate buyers. Its attributes include superior cold-weather performance. It is the purest form of biodiesel and blends easily with petroleum molecules, Knox said during the webinar and in an REG newsletter, "Let's Blend," published online in September. As a developer of distilled biodiesel from inedible feedstocks, REG sees distilled biodiesel as an important product for superior cold-weather performance in the Northeast. "If you need lower cloud, you can use the distilled product, which offers better winter operability and reduces carbon intensity," Knox said. The webinar was presented to help heating oil marketers understand how biodiesel can help them grow their business. Knox said the decision to sell Bioheat® fuel is like any other busi- ness decision a marketer might face. "Does this product give me the deliverable I am looking for?" he asked. "Does it promote positive economics for me? Where and how do I get it into my supply chain?" As a member of the New York Clean Cities Coalition, REG is working with New York City council members to promote the use of biodiesel through new city laws, the company's newsletter also reported. Anthony Fiore, director of energy regulatory affairs for the city, said that 31 million liters of biofuel were consumed in build- ings in New York City in 2013, according to the REG newsletter, resulting in greenhouse gas emission reductions of 84,000 metric tons—the equivalent of removing almost 17,700 passenger vehicles from the road. This consumption and reduction can be directly attributed to NYC Local Law 43, which requires all heat- ing oil sold in the city to contain a minimum 2 percent biofuel component, the newsletter reported. City Council Member Costa Constantinides, who chairs the Council's Environmental Protection Committee, last year proposed two new laws to increase the use of biodiesel. One would raise biofuel requirements for residences and school buses to B5 by October 2016 and to B20 by 2030, according to the REG newsletter. An increase in New York City to using B5 biodiesel blends in heating oil would increase regional biodiesel demand from about 20 million gallons to 50 million, REG said in the newslet- ter. Using B20 could increase demand in New York City by 150 to 170 million gallons, REG said in its newsletter. REG said it was confident in its ability to meet that demand, especially if the increase is accomplished in five-year increments. REG operates out of six petroleum terminal locations in the New York metropolitan area, as well as one blended fuel terminal, the New Hyde Park Oil Terminal, in New Hyde Park, on Long Island. IRVING OIL ACQUIRES WHITEGATE REFINERY IN IRELAND Irving Oil on Sept. 9 announced the successful close of its purchase and sale agreement with Houston-based energy, manufac- turing and logistics company Phillips 6 6 t o a c q u i r e t h e Whitegate refinery located near Cork, Ireland. The agree- ment was initially announced by Irving Oil on Aug. 3 with an expectation that the transaction would close by the end of the third quarter once all conditions of the sale were met. With the transaction finalized, Irving Oil has assumed full ownership of the refinery and will continue full operation of the Consumption of distillate fuel, which includes diesel fuel and heating oil, is expected to fall by 100,000 b/d (2.5%) in 2016, after falling by 60,000 b/d (1.5%) in 2015. Falling distillate consumption in 2016 is the result of relatively warm winter temperatures, reduced oil and natural gas drilling (which uses diesel fuel in its operations), and declining coal production, which has reduced diesel use in rail shipments of coal. Stronger expected economic growth in 2017 contributes to fore- cast distillate fuel consumption growth of 80,000 b/d (2.1%). Source: Short-Term Energy Outlook, September 7, 2016 U.S. Winter Heating Degree Days heating degree-days 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 Note: EIA calculations based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. Horizontal lines indicate each month's prior 10-year average (Oct 2006 - Mar 2016). Projections reflect NOAA's month outlook. Source: Short-Term Energy Outlook, September 2016 October November December January February March 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17