OIL :: Who locked in and at what price

[vineyardblues]

My company has not yet sent out anything out ??
They said at the end of the month.

[buckman]

I think it's going lower. You may be sorry if you lock in now. I have gas so I don't have the option.

[Uncle Matt]

Pete -

A fried was quoted a lock in price of something like $4.19 the other day by Wachsett Oil at the Holden Days event. I don't know any of the particulars other than that. Sorry.
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By the way. I launched the Parker in CCB only to be welcomed by 6 footers at the east end. Back on the trailer she went. No tuna for you!

[spence]

Originally Posted by buckman

I think it's going lower. You may be sorry if you lock in now. I have gas so I don't have the option.

Oil has been low and will likely start climbing so says my oil guy...

We just pay rack and he's pretty good about topping us off when it's the right time. In the end it's all a wash...

-spence

[Jenn]

we "pre bought" 500 gallons on a 10 month budget plan for $4.49 a gallon. Just filled up the other day (aside of the plan) and payed 3.59

[Backbeach Jake]

I was chatting over the fence with my neighbor. He said he locked in last year. There's only himself and his wife at home these days so he shut off the upstairs, no bathroom up there so what the heck. Made a hell of a difference until his oil company says that he bought a lot less this year, what's up? He told them and theysaid there's a penalty. The deal was based on the previous year. WTEFF!! Pardon my francois....

[Jenn]

BBJ-have neighbor tell oil co thats fine I will order more but I can t pay you for it.....lets see if that changes their tune.

Seriously this sux

On ours if you miss a budget payment it terminates your contract....I am thinking we may need to miss a payment. $4.49???? thats insane and the only reason we only commited to 500 gallons. We figured if it went higher we at least made out on 500 gal and if it went lower we werent roped into it for the whole season.....


I hate how they get ya either way....

[spence]

Originally Posted by Backbeach Jake

I was chatting over the fence with my neighbor. He said he locked in last year. There's only himself and his wife at home these days so he shut off the upstairs, no bathroom up there so what the heck. Made a hell of a difference until his oil company says that he bought a lot less this year, what's up? He told them and theysaid there's a penalty. The deal was based on the previous year. WTEFF!! Pardon my francois....

I know LP is like this when you buy into a contract...gotta use.

In the end it's all a racket. I remember our last LP company "locking" us into a rate, only to up it a few months later. We'd have to call and complain, then they'd lower it down. Every time...

-spence

[Uncle Matt]

I also have gas and I've been "prepaying" getting ready for winter. For the last several months I've been sending $100 a month even though I already have a credit. So the gas company calls and tells me something must be wrong with my meter. They try to schedule an appointment and I keep ignoring them. One day the gas guy shows up unannounced and everything checks out fine. Nstar called asking me to stop sending the extra money. Nope, I just sent them $200 just to tickle them. F them......

[Bob Thomas]

$4.09 Worcester

[UserRemoved1]

MASS ENERGY if your not doing it for the lousy $15 a year your NUTS to be paying $4.19 or even $4.09. Your existing oil guy is probably part of the program but they won't tell you!

I bought oil last week the street price was $4.19 and MASSENERGY was $3.63

If THAT isn't saving you a crapload I don't know what elese to call it. I won't need oil til at least January now.

[Andy D]

Saw on the news this A.M. price /barrel jumped overnite because hurricane Gustav "May" enter the gulf of mexico.
I've never locked in on a price.
I shop for the lowest and buy 100/150 gal at a time. I paid 3.78 this last time. Sometimes it bites me in the arse and some time it works for me.

[PaulS]

My BIL just got 200 gallons as $3.50. I've already put out of my mind what I paid last year. The wife is going to start having to wear heavy clothes and slippers are the house and cut out the moaning.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by spence

In the end it's all a wash...

-spence

I agree. The oil company simply takes the funds you forward for "price protection plans" and purchases oil futures contracts with them to fix their price and max profits. In the long run I'm sure you break even at best using their plans.

If you want to get real crafty, buy the futures yourself through a broker. Create an "oil account" with your personal funds. Base the account needs on the amount of gallons you purchased last season and hedge against a price increase with futures or options. Fix the price on the oil yourself. Most of these plans involve an outlay of 200-300 bucks on your part. You could hedge a price increase for six months with that kind of money and your risk is limited to your 200-300 bucks if the price drops. Probably too much of a pain for most, but I back tested this against my own oil consumption in 2007-2008. A 300 dollar outlay would have saved me $2000. Minus the $300 futures contract, I would have net savings of $1700.
Disclaimer: The price of oil increased 125% over the time period I'm using for an example. If you think oil will skyrocket again, hedging may be a viable option for you. Just a thought....

To answer the question a little better, my company offered a price cap of 4.45 for six months or a pre buy at 4.29. This was as of Aug 15th. Price cap means you pay $25 for every 100 gallons of oil you consume. In my case it would be $250 based on our winter consumption(1000 galons) last year. This would protect me from any increase over 4.45 for six months. If the price drops, we pay the lower price.