Good morning; here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• New Jersey Remains Last State with Self-Serve Gas Pump Ban

• UK Discovers Horrible Problem with Heat Pumps

• Upcoming Oil and Gas Events

• Tweet of the Day

New Jersey Remains Last State with Self-Serve Gas Pump Ban

Last week, Oregon scrapped a 72-year ban on self-serve gas pumps, leaving New Jersey the last state with such a ban.

If that is lifted, too, some New Jersey residents swear they’ll leg it.

“Jersey Girls Don’t Pump Gas”

The above is a popular bumper sticker and an attitude that many in New Jersey share.

The WSJ did a quick probe into local sentiments after Oregon’s ban removal and found few in the Garden State would be willing to pump their own gas.

The reasons? Totally serious, of course.

“I like being able to sit in the car,” one resident said. “It’s just easier for me.”

“I don’t like to pump my own gas, especially when it’s cold,” said another.

Well, nobody likes to stand outside in the cold, so we’ve all got that in common.

But is it better to “sit in the car” and wait until a pump attendant finishes with another car?

I guess opinions differ.

By the way, many Oregonians share New Jerseyans’ aversion to self-serve gas pumps.

Obsolete bans?

The bans on self-serve pumps were introduced more than 70 years ago.

It was due to safety risks.

After all, we’re talking flammable liquids.

Some people still can’t fill their own tanks properly, even today, creating a fire hazard.

So, there’s some sense in not having people fill their own tanks.

But if all the states with such bans have lifted them, except New Jersey, doesn’t that tell us it’s not that hard and that dangerous?

I’d say it does, and I’d say it’s really not that hard to fill your own tank.

Sure, have pump attendants for those who want help, but the self-serve ban seems rather antiquated.

Because just because the ban on self-serve pumps has been lifted does not mean you now have to pump your own gas.

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UK Discovers Horrible Problem with Heat Pumps

The UK government has launched a review into heat pumps on suspicion of noise pollution.

Heat pumps are supposed to be made near-mandatory for Brits in the next few years.

Just when they thought they’d solved the emissions problem…

Europeans are very big on heat pumps.

They run on electricity, so there are no direct emissions.

And they can both heat and cool buildings.

That’s why the UK decided to discourage all other heating sources.

They’d do it by slashing the valuations of properties with, say, gas boilers.

Properties with heat pumps would get a higher valuation.

But now the government has discovered a problem.

Heat pumps hum while they operate.

And if you fill a whole village or town with them, the hum may become unbearable.

It was too good to be true, anyway

The noise problem of heat pumps is not really their biggest problem.

They are hugely expensive, and not all work well in cold temps.

You’d think this would be enough to give decision-makers a pose but no.

Heat pumps continue to be hyped as the future of heating.

Even though manufacturers have warned, they can’t keep up with (projected) demand.

Even though the same decision-makers want to ban refrigerants used in heat pumps…

… and replace them with, wait for it, propane and CO2.

Could the noise issue be the death sentence for heat pumps?

Who knows. Stranger things have happened.

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• August 13-15: GO-WV Summer meeting, The Greenbrier, White Suplhur Springs WV

• August 13-16: EnerCom Denver, The Westin Denver Downtown Denver

• August 16-17: Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma Flycatcher Fly Fishing Tournament Beavers Bend, OK

Around the Global Patch

🇹🇷 Turkey awaits UAE's $51 billion investment deal by year-end.
🇩🇪 Germany faces prolonged natural gas shortages.
🇸🇦 Saudi contemplates deeper cuts amid China's imports.

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