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Dear PEI Member:

PEI is now offering online tests for the Recommended Practices it produces. All tests are multiple-choice, with most containing 70 questions. For each test, the program scrambles the questions, giving each user a unique test, with no two tests alike.

The test questions, written by the committee that created the recommended practice, were designed to evaluate knowledge gained from information contained in the particular document. PEI has not designated a "passing" grade for the exams, but provides the score as the number of correct answers. When a test is completed, the user immediately receives a score and a Certificate of Completion with the number answered correctly. Each question, with the correct score provided, is available for review.

Tests can be purchased two ways: individually or by annual subscription. An annual subscription (available only to PEI members) gives a company unlimited access to all tests, including updated and new recommended practices. The subscription option is ideal for companies with a large number of employees, or for a company that wants to retest in training sessions and/or use the tests for pre-employment screening purposes. An annual subscription is $299. Individual tests are $25 per test. Tests can be purchased at www.pei.org/tests.

The tests are delivered online using any standard web browser. No software downloads or plug-ins are required. The Certificate of Completion requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and/or print.

Customized installations can also be configured for organizations that need full administration of a testing program or prefer to brand the test with their logo. For more information about any aspect of this program, contact Rex Brown (jrbrown@pei.org).

WILL OBAMA MOVE BEYOND E10?

PEI and Industry Events »

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One solution to the problem would be for EPA to approve the Renewable Fuels Association's request that EPA find E12 "substantially similar" to E10. Under that scenario, 15.5 billion gallons of ethanol could be blended into the 115 billion gallons of gasoline and the RFS standard would be met.

Engine manufacturers and automakers have opposed mid-level ethanol blends because they say higher ethanol blends can have detrimental effects on engines and lead to costly liability claims.

With the Bush EPA not acting on the substantially similar request, it will be up to the  Obama Administration to balance the ethanol industry's interests against the economic concerns of a beleaguered auto industry. Previous remarks by Obama's environmental spokeswoman Heather Zichal—who Obama named December 15 to the position of deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change—indicate the president-elect's support for higher ethanol blends. "In addition, this is again another area where [Obama] has worked . . . in the state legislature and in the U.S. Senate  . . . with gas station retailers and pump manufacturers, as well as the engine manufacturers to make sure they're certifying their parts to the highest blend levels that are safe for the equipment and to design equipment capable of handling higher blend levels," she said in a radio interview with AgriTalk on October 15.

Both Underwriters Laboratories and the U.S. Department of Energy seem ready to take a role in the debate. A joint UL/DOE petroleum dispenser legacy system certification clarification was posted on both websites the week of December 22, 2008. The statement, in part, said:

"Underwriters Laboratories Listed dispensers - those legacy dispensers currently in service and used most often in gas stations around the country today - are certified under UL 87 and are authorized for dispensing blends up to E10. Because UL often uses safety margins during testing, some subassemblies have been tested with fuels containing 15% ethanol, leading to some technical references to this level, but that does not mean that those dispensers are certified to dispense fuels containing greater than 10% ethanol.     

UL is currently working with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding their ongoing research to investigate the impact of using higher ethanol blends in current legacy vehicles and engine systems (that were not originally designed for use with ethanol blends above E10). If new federal guidelines are established that approve higher ethanol blend levels for public use, UL will review products currently certified under UL 87 to determine whether UL can support such use."

The entire joint clarification statement issued by UL and DOE is available here.

PEI OFFERING SEMINARS AT FOUR PETROLEUM MARKETER REGIONAL SHOWS
PEI has partnered with four regional trade shows in 2009 to sponsor workshops for PEI members exhibiting in or attending the shows. This presents additional opportunities for the PEI community to gather on a regional basis, especially for members who are unable to attend the annual PEI convention. Profit Myths in Wholesale Distribution will be presented February 18 at WPMA in Las Vegas, Nevada; March 4 at the SouthEast Petro-Food Marketing Expo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; March 25 at the M-PACT Show in Indianapolis, Indiana; and May 6 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Atlantic Region Energy Expo. Dr. Al Bates of the Profit Planning Group will be the presenter in Las Vegas and Indianapolis; John MacKay will present the program in Myrtle Beach and Atlantic City. The workshops will examine some of the major myths about profitability and how they can harm distributors. All participants will receive an Excel worksheet to help them understand how incorrect thinking impacts profits in their own firm.

REGULATORY BRIEFS
Oregon. The Environmental Quality Commission has amended the state's air quality rules that go beyond the federal requirements in an effort to reduce exposure to benzene. The rules require Stage I vapor recovery controls at gasoline dispensing facilities throughout the state that dispense an average of 40,000 gallons or more per month. The new vapor recovery rules are expected to be implemented for existing gasoline stations by January 10, 2011. Regulations formerly required Stage I vapor controls in the Portland, Medford and Salem areas; they were voluntary in other parts of Oregon. Approximately 60 percent of Oregon's gasoline dispensing facilities have already installed Stage I vapor recovery.   
Texas. A bill (SB 441) has been introduced in the Texas Senate which would require service stations within 100 miles of the Texas coast to be pre-wired for a transfer switch and be capable of operating all fuel pumps, dispensing equipment, life-safety systems and payment-acceptance equipment using an alternative electrical generator. This is a companion bill to HB 457 filed in the Texas House earlier.—TPCA Facts, January 12, 2009.

BRIEFLY NOTED
PetroTechnik Ltd. has named Jeffrey A. Davis president of PetroTechnik Inc., Cresskill, New Jersey. Davis has over 25 years of sales, service and marketing experience in the petroleum equipment industry. Contact him at (832) 622-9954 or jdavis@upp-usa.com. Davis will continue to reside in Houston, Texas.
There are now over 1,900 E85 stations operating in the United States. At this time last year, there were 1,430 E85 stations across the United States.
RDM Industrial Electronics, Inc., Nebo, North Carolina, has added over 5,200 square feet of office and warehouse space to its facility in Nebo. 
Emco Wheaton Retail Corporation, Wilson, North Carolina, has appointed E. L. Shannon and Associates, Southern Pines, North Carolina, to represent the company in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Cumberland Farms and Gulf Oil LP are combining corporate finance, legal and human resources operations at a single location in Framingham, Massachusetts.
"Egypt and Libya held more talks this week on plans for $5 billion-$6 billion in joint investment in Egypt, including building a new 250,000 b/d refinery, upgrading the 50,000 b/d Asyut refinery by adding a unit to convert fuel oil into light petroleum products, and setting up 500 service stations."—The Oil Daily, January 14, 2009.
Fiber Glass Systems, manufacturer of Red Thread IIA UL-listed pipe systems, has announced that Rice-Christ, Inc. will represent the company in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

ADMITTED TO PEI

• Advanced Petroleum Solutions, Tyrone, GA (S&C)

©2009
Petroleum Equipment Institute
P. O. Box 2380
Tulsa, OK 74101-2380

The TulsaLetter (ISSN 0193-9467) is published two or three times each month by the Petroleum Equipment Institute. Robert N. Renkes, Executive Vice President, Editor. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the Editor. Basic circulation confined to PEI members.