EnergyMiser101

Oil Is the New Gold

     Prices for gasoline and heating oil rose in the U.S. this past week, following crude oil. There were no major supply/demand fundamentals driving prices up, and as I mentioned in an earlier entry, supplies of refined products, particularly heating oil, are high. The major factor pushing fuels higher is the declining value of the dollar relative to other currencies.

      Speculators are trading their dollars for oil because they believe that oil will do a better job of holding its value. In the past two years, as the economy steadily weakened, oil has become more of a financial instrument, like gold, and has begun to respond less to to changes in supply and demand.

Lessons from Montclair's Recycle Master

     If you've ever wondered what happens to the old newspapers, water bottles and laundry detergent  containers you put at your curb once a week, you might be surprised to learn where they go and what they're worth. The items that I thought had value didn't, but things that I thought were worthless were the stars of the recycle pile.

     Environment and economics are the driving factors behind any recycling program.  That's according to Craig Brandon, Montclair N.J.'s Supervisor of Solid Waste Management. Craig spent a good hour explaining some of the ins and outs of the recycling business to me when I visited him in his office.

This Compost Event Can Save You Money

      I took my daughter to the YMCA this morning and picked up a flier on composting that caught my eye. It's a great way to save energy because you don't have to buy fertilizer, which has natural gas as a raw material, as I wrote about in a previous post.

     Our town, Montclair, NJ, is trying to make composting easier for its residents, and it's sponsoring a composting event Saturday, October 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Edgemont Park.

     Now this blog has readers from as far away as New Zealand, so, obviously a lot of you aren't going to make it. But read on anyway because you might pick up some ideas that you can use wherever you live!

High Stocks Drive Prices Lower

       When it comes to both gasoline and heating oil prices, consumers could be in for some significant price relief. The key word here is supply, or more precisely, oversupply.
     The Energy Department reported lower spot prices for gasoline in all major markets for the week ending November 2. Prices for gasoline have been declining for weeks because of reduced demand and a build up of inventories. Lower consumption partially reflects the seasonal shift in driving habits, but a much bigger factor is the weak economy and the high unemployment rate which is keeping a lot of drivers off the road.
    The trend in oversupply is even more pronounced in the heating oil market. The Energy Department resumed reporting distillate prices this week and will continue to do so until mid-March. This market has been decimated by the weak economy and the fall in trucking traffic.
     US inventories of distillate are almost 50 percent higher now than they were at this time last year. This can only be good news for heating oil buyers. Gasoline stocks are up around 25 percent and crude oil inventories are nearly 34 percent higher than a year ago. Basically, we're awash in refined products!

Winter Forecast Favors Heating Savings

     The Energy information Administration (EIA) published its winter fuels outlook today, and it brings good news for homeowners. This winter, the EIA said it expects the average US household to spend $84 or 8% less on its home heating bill than it did last winter. Their projections are based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)most recent forecast of 2009-2010 winter weather, which is calling for it to be 1 percent warmer than last year.

High Heating Oil Supplies May Lower Prices

     It' s supposed to reach nearly 70 degrees this coming week in New Jersey, but the other day when the temperature inside our house dipped to around 63 degrees and our heat came on I knew that this week's forecast was just a big tease. You can't stop the cold from coming, but high distillate inventories could provide some price relief this winter for those of us with oil heat.