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Banty

In article , says...

On 12 Nov 2008 10:42:40 -0800, Banty wrote:

I got caught in this, and locked in (not a ceiling, a fixed price) in late
August. Ouch.

Homeowners tend to do their heating oil contracts in late summer and early fall,
because usually thats just before anticipatec demand drives up prices. This
year, of course, that didn't work out quite that way! :-(

But I dont think other concerns like agriculture using fuel year round or with a
different seasonality would be caught quite so much as homeowners were this
year.

As for people reneging, some are if the penalty in the contract is a lot less
than the difference between what they project for costs during the winter going
by contract price vs. going by current price. Which is leaving the smaller oil
delivery outfits in a lurch.

I plan to stick to contract. I did fabulously with my contract the previous
year; I guess this year is my karma-payback ;-) Silly me I neglected to figure
in a worldwide economic meltdown starting September 15. I'm taking my crystal
ball into the shop for repairs...

Banty

I've been doing the contract pre-buy for about 15 years now. Some
years you win, some years you lose. In the long term, I'm still a
little ahead. This year, I will probably lose about $5-600 or so. Not
enough to get excited over. There have been years when I came out
ahead almost that much. This is just one of the years when I lose.

That's kinda how I look at it. I do think this is the last time I'll be going
for the fixed plan rather than the ceiling price plan. Although in August when
I locked in the ceiling price plan had a ceiling price way above the current
fixed price, much more than what I'd seen before.

Banty