Latest on sulfur levels in heating oil from Jim Collura of NEFI

U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic refiners and environmental groups met to discuss significantly tightening the sulfur level of heating oil, said Anna Garcia, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU).

MANE-VU Member states include: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode  Island, and Vermont. 

MANE-VU met in December with marketers and distributors on tightening heating oil sulfur levels and the meeting this week “is to close the loop with the refiners,” Garcia said. MANE-VU wants to limit heating oil sulfur in a series of steps over several years for its member states.

The plan’s first phase would lower heating oil sulfur to 500 ppm in 2012 in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, with the rest of the states making the move in 2014.  The second phase would take heating oil sulfur to 15ppm in the New York City area, New  Jersey, Pennsylvania  and Delaware by 2016, with the rest of the states following suit in 2018.

Arthur Marin from NESCAUM reported the following after the meeting.