SIC 5983 Fuel Oil Dealers

SIC 5983

This classification covers companies primarily retailing fuel oil. Companies that primarily sell fuel oil burners are in SIC 5074: Plumbing and Heating Equipment and Supplies (Hydronics); those that install and service fuel oil burners are in SIC 1711: Plumbing, Heating and Air-Conditioning; and those that repair and service fuel oil burners are in SIC 7699: Repair Shops and Related Services, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS CODE(S)

454311

Heating Oil Dealers

By the mid-2000s, heating oil companies across the country were consolidating in what Fuel Oil News called an "acquisition derby." In 2004, many were offered for sale due to financial reasons, whether because of instability or the relatively high asking prices allowed, but many others were closing due to personal reasons such as aging employees.

Dun and Bradstreet listed 8,391 establishments doing business under this industrial classification in 1997. Companies in this industry sell motor oil for vehicles and fuel oil for heating buildings, with the largest earnings coming from heating oil sales. Residential customers are the primary consumers of heating oil. In 1999 the U.S. Department of Energy reported that 16 million American homes use a total of 11 billion gallons of heating oil each year, which...