LP Gas, December 2009

NEWS BRIEFS Roush developing propane fueled Mustang drag cars Jack Roush is developing a pair of propane fueled Roush Mustang drag cars ready to challenge for the NHRA championship next season The drag cars are an offshoot of the kits Roush Performance uses to convert gasoline powered Ford pickups and vans to run on propane Propanes advantage in drag racing is its 106 octane rating premium unleaded is typically around 93 octane The fi rst car being developed is a 2005 Roush Stage 3 Mustang which will be driven by Donnie Bowles Testing was scheduled for mid November The Roush engineering team is also building a 2010 Roush Stage 3 Mustang for Susan Roush McClenaghan Roushs daughter The car is scheduled to debut in February Both cars will use an all aluminum 54L V 8 Ford engine that was originally designed for the Ford GT supercar The engine will be converted to be naturally aspirated the compression ratio will be altered to 125 1 and several other changes will be required to run on liquid propane These include CNC ported cylinder heads high performance camshaft and valvetrain and a wet sump lubrication system All of these changes should help the engine generate in excess of 600 horsepower I N D U S T R Y N E W S N U M B E R S VitalSigns NPGA lobbies for extension of alternative fuel tax credit N PGA President and CEO Rick Roldan sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate tax writing committees stressing the importance of extending the alternative fuel tax credit that is scheduled to expire at the end of the year It is very diffi cult for our industry to plan develop and market our product without knowing we can rely on such incentives being in the code for the period of time necessary to build a proper and lasting foundation Roldan wrote Regardless of the legislative vehicle used Roldan stressed the importance of extending this credit before the end of the year if Congress intends to continue the effort of encouraging the use of alternative fuels in motor vehicles While uncertainty remains among committee staff members on the vehicle for extending this tax credit and other expiring tax credits a tax extenders package is usually considered at the end of the congressional session each year the most likely scenario NPGA noted However another legislative vehicle could be used The key elements would be the availability of time and money to offset the costs of any tax credit extensions Interested NPGA members are invited to send their own letters to Congress encouraging the extension of this tax credit A sample grassroots letter at www npga org fueltaxcreditletter along with instructions for contacting members of the House and Senate are available on the NPGA Web site at www npga org fueltaxcredit grass roots LP Gas Stock Index PROPANE MASTER LIMITED PARTNERSHIP COMPARISON Total Units Quarter Price Tax Debt Debt Outstanding Company Symbol Ended 11 17 09 Distribution Yield Deferral Capital Mkt Cap millions AmeriGas APU Sept 3696 268 73 70 67 41 570 Energy Transfer ETP Sept 4361 358 82 70 60 84 1688 Ferrellgas FGP April 2167 200 92 90 87 68 682 Inergy NRGY June 3228 270 84 80 57 62 553 Suburban SPH Sept 4394 332 76 80 46 23 340 Average 81 63 56 LAST TWELVE MONTHS Gross Gross Gross Profi t EBITDA Gallons Sold Percent Gross Profi t EBITDA Company Revenue Profi t Margin Per employee millions millions Change Per gallon Per gallon AmeriGas 22602 9436 417 159932 342 928 65 102 037 Energy Transfer 13026 6448 495 148562 289 577 39 112 050 Ferrellgas 20703 7680 371 211163 250 652 08 118 038 Inergy 15061 4722 314 157295 247 313 74 151 079 Suburban 9929 6012 605 201407 245 344 108 175 071 Average 440 175672 43 131 055 1 Energy Transfer LTM results are only those of ETPs propane segment Heritage Propane Wachovia Capital Markets LLC 2 Suburbans gallons sold include propane and heating oil gallons Ron Londe analyst 8 LPGas December 2009 www LPGasmagazine com