SANATOGA PA – Shaner Propane, the 45-year-old Sanatoga provider of propane fuel for heating, cooking and other uses, is part of a $2.9 billion sale of 440 such suppliers nationwide to AmeriGas Partners of Valley Forge PA, the company announced last week (Oct. 17, 2011).

Shaner, located at 3000 E. High St., Pottstown PA, formerly was privately owned and was bought several years ago by the Heritage Propane division of Energy Transfer Partners L.P. of Dallas TX. Amerigas, an affiliate of UGI Corp., reportedly will increase its size by 60 percent and add one million customers across the country by buying Shaner and remaining companies under Heritage’s ownership umbrella.

Besides Shaner, Heritage operates four other propane retailers in Pennsylvania. Amerigas is already the nation’s largest propane distributor; Heritage, the third largest.

Propane is a by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining. About 5 percent of American households use it for heating, the Philadelphia Inquirer noted. It also is used for industrial and agricultural applications in areas not served by natural gas distribution systems, and as bottled gas for backyard grills.

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