08.26.2011
Preparing for Irene - What You Should Know About the Threat of Flood to Your UST System
Thanks to Tom Peters of the Empire State Petroleum Association for this timely reminder - the EPA has published a detailed Underground Storage Tank Flood Guide which provides excellent guidance on how to prepare for and react to flood conditions such as are predicted for the East Coast this weekend from hurricane Irene.
to obtain your own copy - click here
This 29-page guide provides simple guidelines and useful information for state, local, and tribal authorities in the event of a threatened or actual flood. The guide provides information about preparing for a flood, important actions after the disaster strikes, and information on financial assistance. It consolidates information from various federal, state, nongovernmental, and UST industry resources. The guide will help prepare for, prevent, or lessen the catastrophic effects and environmental harm that could occur as a result of flooded UST systems, as well as help return these UST systems to service as soon as possible.
07.18.2011
Second Quarter Results: Midst the Harsh Retail Petroleum Market, Guess Who is Still Thriving?
While the downstream market continues to struggle, refining operations across the board reported record results. Net income comparison among randomly selected refiners:
Exxon Mobil (Upstream only)
2nd Quarter 2011 – $ 8.5 BILLION
2nd Quarter 2010 - $5.33 BILLION
Enterprise Products Partners
2nd Quarter 2011 – $449M
2nd Quarter 2010 -$354M
Western Refining
2nd Quarter 2011 – $100M
2nd Quarter 2010 - $14.4M
Tesoro
2nd Quarter 2011 – $218M
2nd Quarter 2010 - $ 67M
06.24.2011
Joe says it isn’t so - Embattled Joe Mamo rebuts D.C City Council
This week retail petroleum entrepeneur /real estate magnate Joe Mamo stood up to the Washington D.C. City Council and defended his business. Mr. Mamo's company, Capitol Petroleum, owns, operates or supplies 164 stations in the DC area, and has been accused by "experts" of unfair pricing practices by having a monopoly on the Washington DC retail gasoline market. The D.C. City Council is considering legislation to prevent Mr. Mamo from persisting in this activity, by prohibiting distributors from owning gas stations, in a purported effort to protect consumers.
We don't know Mr. Mamo, and we don't pretend to know the specific details of his supply contracts or his profits. But it is difficult to imagine how this proposed legislative action can stand the smell test - by all accounts Mr. Mamo owns less than half the gas stations in the DC area, a fairly compact geographic region, so it is hard to see how consumers don't have a choice to purchase outside of Mr. Mamo's influence.
Are we missing something?
Here's the latest on gas prices nationwide: http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_gasoline.html
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