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DAILY MISSION We will treat our customers, potential customers, and fellow employees at every contact in such a way that they will tell others how proud they are to be associated with us. ABOUT PETROLEUM HEAT & POWER Petro is the largest retail distributor of home heating oil in the United States. The Company has been engaged in the fuel oil business since 1903. Petro is dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. We continuously achieve this level of performance through operational excellence and outstanding customer relations. Our customer service is renowned for providing prompt fuel delivery, high quality technical service, and an outstanding customer focused attitude from all employees. Petro services over 350,000 customers from Massachusetts to Virginia, delivering close to 400 million gallons of heating oil per year. Despite the tremendous growth achieved by the Company, the current customer base represents only a five percent share of the home heating oil market in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, providing Petro with attractive future growth opportunities. Although our business might appear to be the delivery of home heating oil and the maintenance of heating equipment, we at Petro believe that our true product is SERVICE. Thus, as a member of the Petro team, you will be one of more than 2,200 dedicated employees working to ensure that our customers' expectations are not only met, but exceeded. The History of Petro PETRO has been in existence since 1903. In fact, you could argue that the oil heating industry began with Petro, when M.A. Fessler invented the oil burner to take advantage of some of the crude oil that was virtually seeping out of the California ground. To capitalize on his invention, Fessler started the Fess System Company that eventually became Petro. Fessler perfected his invention over the next several years, and in 1915 the Company moved East, installing the first oil burner in Boston, MA. The Company began to grow rapidly, and by 1916 was entering into its first contracts to purchase fuel oil. By 1917, there were contracts to purchase over 210,000 gallons! In 1920, a Petro oil burner factory was opened in Stamford, CT, managed by M.A. Fessler. He remained with Petro until his retirement in 1927. At that time, Petro's headquarters were in New York City, and the Company operated an oil terminal on the East River -- the only oil terminal on the island of Manhattan. During the 1960's, Petro was sold to Signal Oil and Gas, and eventually was acquired by a division of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. By 1978, Petro was selling approximately 100 million gallons of home heating oil a year. In 1979, the Sevin family purchased Petro from R.J. Reynolds and began restructuring. After this was completed, the Company began to purchase other home heating oil companies. Then, in December 1986, Petro became a publicly traded Company for the first time and was traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol "HEAT." By the end of 1999, Petro had acquired more than 180 home heating oil companies, making it the largest home heating oil and service company in the country. Petro has gone through a variety of changes since its inception in 1903. Today, under a new Senior Management team, Petro is focusing efforts on organic growth and operational excellence, and renewing a culture where superior Customer Service is the number one priority. We welcome you to learn more about this long-standing tradition of service and commitment. Please visit our Website: www.petro.com. |