Getting your fill of propane tanks

DENVER - Backyard grillers may get a little steamed this holiday weekend when buying refilled propane tanks: They will be getting less fuel for their money than last Memorial Day.

When oil prices soared in 2008, propane suppliers quietly reduced by two pounds the amount of gas pumped into each 20-pound tank, saying they wanted to avoid raising prices.

Since then, propane prices have been cut in half as the price of oil has dropped from a high of $143 a barrel in July to $61.67 yesterday. But smaller refills are still being sold nationwide by many dealers, and most buyers are unaware of that.

"It's a price increase," retired lawyer Stuart Barr said yesterday as he swapped a tank at a Home Depot store in Denver. "I'm a great believer in full disclosure."

Companies are doing the same in packaging coffee, sugar, and laundry detergent.

Tammi Dorsey of Denver, carrying a tank of propane from a store yesterday, was initially unaware that she got less this time.

For the last year, tank exchanges at retail stores have generally cost $20 to $25. Consumers who refill their existing tanks typically pay $17 to $20.

Until last year, two major suppliers - Amerigas Partners L.P., of King of Prussia, and Blue Rhino, of Winston-Salem, N.C. - put 17 to 18 pounds of propane in each 20-pound tank. (Tanks should not be filled completely for safety reasons.)

About a year ago, that was cut to 15 pounds to avoid a price increase, Blue Rhino spokesman Chris Hartley said.

"There are a number of companies in different industries across the country addressing product packaging just because of the soaring costs," he said.

Hartley would not say if there were plans to return propane refills to pre-2008 levels, but he did say that energy markets remained volatile.

In the last year, propane futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have dropped from about $1.73 per gallon to just above 71 cents. They have climbed 11 cents since January.

Retailers who offer propane say they have not increased the volume of fuel in each tank because propane companies have not reduced their prices.

Home Depot, which offers propane refills, said cutting the amount of propane in 20-pound tanks was an industrywide measure.

There have been no customer complaints, spokeswoman Jean Niemi said.