BJ's Wholesale Club fires up heating oil biz

BJ's Wholesale Club has started selling home heating oil at its five Long Island stores, adding a major retailer to the area's highly fragmented fuel oil market.

The Natick, Mass.-based firm began selling oil last week out of its stores in East Setauket, Hauppauge, Westbury, Farmingdale

BJ's has set up a members heating oil advantage program through a partnership with PriceEnergy, a subsidiary of Rockaway, N.J.-based Able Energy.

BJ's, which charges its members $40 a year, said PriceEnergy works with three local dealers to provide the oil, though it declined to identify them.

BJ's first launched its fuel oil sales in portions of New England as a test in late 2001 and then moved into the Mid-Atlantic in late 2002.

BJ's was selling heating oil at its Long Island stores for $1.039 a gallon as of Aug. 22. The oil can be ordered over the phone or on the Web at www.priceenergy.com.