STAR GROUP, L.P. - Annual Report: 2011 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

OR

Commission File Number: 001-14129

STAR GAS PARTNERS, L.P.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(203) 328-7310

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.     Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x     No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” and “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Act (check one).

Large accelerated filer  ¨    Accelerated filer  x    Non-accelerated filer  ¨    Smaller reporting company  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common units held by non-affiliates on March 31, 2011 was approximately $382,342,000. As of November 30, 2011, the registrant had 64,528,038 common units outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None

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STAR GAS PARTNERS, L.P.

2011 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

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PART I

Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Disclosure

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes “forward-looking statements” which represent our expectations or beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties, including those associated with the effect of weather conditions on our financial performance, the price and supply of the products that we sell, the consumption patterns of our customers, our ability to obtain satisfactory gross profit margins, our ability to obtain new customers and retain existing customers, our ability to make strategic acquisitions, the impact of litigation, our ability to contract for our current and future supply needs, natural gas conversions, future union relations and the outcome of current and future union negotiations, the impact of current and future governmental regulations, including environmental, health, and safety regulations, the ability to attract and retain employees, customer credit worthiness, counterparty credit worthiness, marketing plans, general economic conditions and new technology. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Report including, without limitation, the statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere herein, are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “seek,” “estimate,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” and “Business Strategy.” Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations (“Cautionary Statements”) are disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Partnership or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the Cautionary Statements. Unless otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this Report.

Structure

Star Gas Partners, L.P. (“Star Gas Partners,” the “Partnership,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a home heating oil and propane distributor and services provider with one reportable operating segment that principally provides services to residential and commercial customers to heat their homes and buildings. Star Gas Partners is a Delaware limited partnership, which at November 30, 2011, had outstanding 64.5 million common units (NYSE: “SGU”) representing a 99.50% limited partner interest in Star Gas Partners, and 0.3 million general partner units, representing a 0.50% general partner interest in Star Gas Partners.

The Partnership is organized as follows:

We file annual, quarterly, current and other reports and information with the SEC. These filings can be viewed and downloaded from the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, these SEC filings are available at no cost as soon as reasonably practicable after the filing thereof on our website at www.star-gas.com/sec.cfm. These reports are also available to be read and copied at the SEC’s public reference room located at Judiciary Plaza, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the public reference room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. You may also obtain copies of these filings and other information at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange located at 11 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005.

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Partnership structure

The following chart summarizes our partnership structure as of September 30, 2011. Other than Star Gas Partners, L.P. all other entities in this structure are taxable as corporations for Federal and state income tax purposes.

Business Overview

As of September 30, 2011, we sold home heating oil and propane to approximately 407,000 full service residential and commercial customers. We believe we are the largest retail distributor of home heating oil in the United States, based upon sales volume. We also sell home heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel to approximately 39,000 customers on a delivery only basis. We install, maintain, and repair heating and air conditioning equipment for our customers and provide ancillary home services, including home security and plumbing, to approximately 11,500 customers. During fiscal 2011, total sales were comprised of approximately 79% from sales of home heating oil and propane; 13% from the installation and repair of heating and air conditioning equipment and ancillary services; and 8% from the sale of other petroleum products. We provide home heating equipment repair service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. These services are an integral part of our business and are intended to maximize customer satisfaction and loyalty.

We conduct our business through an operating subsidiary, Petro Holdings, Inc., and its subsidiaries, utilizing over 30 local brand names such as Petro Heating & Air Conditioning Services and Meenan Oil. We believe that the Petro, Meenan and other trademarks and service marks are an important part of our ability to attract new customers and to effectively maintain and service our customer base.

We offer several pricing alternatives to our residential home heating oil customers, including a variable price (market based) option and a price-protected option, the latter of which either sets the maximum price or a fixed price that a customer will pay. Approximately 97% of our deliveries for our full service residential and commercial home heating oil and propane customers are automatically scheduled based on ongoing weather conditions. In addition, we offer a “smart pay” budget payment plan in which homeowners’ estimated annual oil and propane deliveries and service billings are paid for in a series of equal monthly installments. We utilize derivative instruments in order to hedge a substantial majority of the home heating oil volume we expect to sell to price-protected customers that have renewed their price-protected plans, mitigating our exposure to changing commodity prices. We also use derivative instruments as a hedge against our home heating oil physical inventory and home heating oil priced purchase commitments. Our size gives us the ability to realize economies of scale and the ability to provide consistent, strong customer service.

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Currently, we have heating oil and propane customers in the following states, regions and counties:

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Industry Characteristics

Home heating oil is primarily used as a source of fuel to heat residences and businesses in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. According to the U.S. Department of Energy—Energy Information Administration, 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (the latest survey published), these regions account for 83% (5.7 million of 6.9 million) of the households in the United States where heating oil is the main space-heating fuel and 28% (5.7 million of 20.8 million) of the homes in these regions use home heating oil as their main space-heating fuel. In recent years, as the price of home heating oil increased, customers have tended to increase their conservation efforts, which has decreased their consumption of home heating oil.

The retail home heating oil industry is mature, with total market demand expected to decline in the foreseeable future due to conversions to natural gas. Our customer losses to natural gas conversions for fiscal years 2011, 2010, and 2009 were 1.4%, 1.2%, and 1.6%, respectively. Therefore, our ability to maintain our business or grow within the industry is dependent on the acquisition of other retail distributors as well as the success of our marketing programs.

It is common practice in our business to price products to customers based on a per gallon margin over wholesale costs. As a result, we believe distributors such as ourselves generally seek to maintain their per gallon margins by passing wholesale price increases through to customers, thus insulating themselves from the volatility in wholesale prices. However, distributors may be unable or unwilling to pass the entire product cost increases through to customers. In these cases, significant decreases in per gallon margins may result. The timing of cost pass-throughs can also significantly affect margins. The retail home heating oil industry is highly fragmented, characterized by a large number of relatively small, independently owned and operated local distributors. Some dealers provide full service, as we do, and others offer delivery only on a cash-on-delivery basis, which we also do to a significantly lesser extent. The industry is becoming more complex and costly due to new regulations, working capital requirements and the cost to hedge for price-protected customers.

Business strategy

Our business strategy is to increase operating profits and cash flow by conservatively managing our operations and growing and retaining our customer base as a retail distributor of home heating oil, propane and ancillary services. The key elements of this strategy include the following:

Deliver superior customer service. We are completely focused on providing the best customer service in our regions, with the aim of maximizing customer retention. To engage our employees and enhance their ability to provide superior customer service and reduce gross customer losses, we require all employees to go through customer service training—supplemented by ongoing monitoring and guidance from management. Our Director of Quality Assurance is responsible for customer service evaluation and directs teams that conduct quality assurance assessments at operating locations. These assessments are focused on improving our performance in customer relations and retention—to drive customer service performance to the best level possible.

Continue to focus on operating efficiencies. We constantly work to reduce operating costs and streamline our operations through the elimination of redundant systems and appropriate reductions in overhead.

Pursue select acquisitions. Our senior management team has developed expertise in identifying acquisition opportunities and integrating acquired customers into our operations. Through our acquisitions, we have been able to increase our presence in some of our existing geographic markets and selectively expand into new markets. Our acquisition strategy has enabled us to achieve our current market position and offers us the ability to achieve operating efficiencies and economies of scale.

Broaden products and services. We sell related and complementary products and services, such as air conditioning systems, plumbing services and home security systems, in order to leverage our organizational structure and improve our sales penetration within our existing customer base. We continue to increase the quality and breadth of our service offerings and believe that these actions will further enhance our position with existing and potential customers, allowing us to maintain or improve customer retention.

Seasonality

Our fiscal year ends on September 30. All references to quarters and years respectively in this document are to fiscal quarters and years unless otherwise noted. The seasonal nature of our business results in the sale of approximately 30% of our volume of home heating oil in the first fiscal quarter and 50% of our volume in the second fiscal quarter of each fiscal year, the peak heating season. As a result, we generally realize net income in our first and second fiscal quarters and net losses during our third and fourth fiscal quarters and we expect that the negative impact of seasonality on our third and fourth fiscal quarter operating results will continue. In addition, sales volume typically fluctuates from year to year in response to variations in weather, wholesale energy prices and other factors.

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Competition

Most of our operating locations compete with numerous distributors, primarily on the basis of reliability of service, price, and response to customer needs. Each such location operates in its own competitive environment.

We compete with distributors offering a broad range of services and prices, from full-service distributors, like ourselves, to those offering delivery only. Like many companies in our business, we provide home heating and propane equipment repair service on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 52 weeks a year basis. We believe that this level of service tends to help build customer loyalty. In some instances homeowners have formed buying cooperatives that seek a lower price than individual customers are otherwise able to obtain. Our business competes for retail customers with suppliers of alternative energy products, principally natural gas, propane and electricity. The expansion of natural gas into traditional home heating oil markets in the Northeast has historically been inhibited by the capital costs required to expand distribution and pipeline systems.

Customers and Pricing

Our full service home heating oil customer base is comprised of 96% residential customers and 4% commercial customers. Our residential customer receives on average 160 gallons per delivery and our commercial accounts receive on average 340 gallons per delivery. Typically, we make four to six deliveries per customer per year. Currently, 97% of our deliveries are scheduled automatically and 3% of our home heating oil customer base call from time to time to schedule a delivery. Automatic deliveries are scheduled based on each customer’s historical consumption pattern and prevailing weather conditions. Our practice is to bill customers promptly after delivery. We also offer a balanced payment plan in which a customer’s estimated annual oil purchases and service contract fees are paid for in a series of equal monthly payments. Approximately 38% of our residential home heating oil customers have selected this billing option.

We offer several pricing alternatives to our residential home heating oil customers. Our variable pricing program allows the price to float with the home heating oil market and generally move up or down in response to market changes and other factors. In addition, we offer price protected programs, which establish either a ceiling or a fixed price per gallon that the customer would pay over a defined period. Over the last several years, a greater number of our price protected customers have selected the ceiling plan over the fixed price plan.

Sales to residential customers ordinarily generate higher per gallon margins than sales to commercial customers. Due to greater price sensitivity and hedging costs of residential price-protected customers, the per gallon margins realized from price protected customers generally are less than from variable priced residential customers.

Customer Attrition

We measure net customer attrition for our full service residential and commercial home heating oil and propane customers. Starting October 1, 2010, we have included propane customers in this calculation as several of our acquisitions since such date have included propane operations. Net customer attrition is the difference between gross customer losses and customers added through marketing efforts. Customers added through acquisitions are not included in the calculation of gross customer gains. However, additional customers that are obtained through marketing efforts at newly acquired businesses are included in these calculations. Gross customer losses are the result of a number of factors, including price competition, move outs, service issues, credit losses and conversions to natural gas. When a customer moves out of an existing home we count the “move out” as a loss and if we are successful in signing up the new homeowner, the “move in” is treated as a gain. (See Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Customer Attrition.)

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Suppliers and Supply Arrangements

We purchase petroleum products for delivery in either barge, pipeline or truckload quantities, and as of September 30, 2011 have contracts with approximately 70 third-party terminals for the right to temporarily store petroleum products at their facilities. Home heating oil purchases are made under supply contracts or on the spot market. Including our own physical storage, we have entered into market price based contracts for approximately 70% of our retail home heating oil requirements for fiscal 2012. During fiscal 2011, Global Companies, NIC Holding Corp. (Northville Industries) and Sunoco Inc. provided 21.6%, 12.6% and 10.9% respectively, of our petroleum product purchases. Aside from these three suppliers, no single supplier provided more than 10% of our petroleum product supply during fiscal 2011. For fiscal 2012, we generally have supply contracts for similar quantities with Global Companies, NIC Holding Corp. (Northville Industries) and Sunoco Inc. Supply contracts typically have terms of 6 to 12 months. All of the supply contracts provide for minimum quantities. In all cases, the supply contracts do not establish in advance the price of home heating oil. This price is based upon a published market index price at the time of delivery or pricing date plus an agreed upon differential. We believe that our policy of contracting for the majority of our anticipated supply needs with diverse and reliable sources will enable us to obtain sufficient product should unforeseen shortages develop in worldwide supplies.

Derivatives

We use derivative instruments in order to mitigate our exposure to market risk associated with the purchase of home heating oil for our price-protected customers, physical inventory on hand, inventory in transit and priced purchase commitments. Currently, the Partnership’s derivative instruments are with the following counterparties: Key Bank National Association, JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, Bank of America, N.A., Cargill, Inc., Societe Generale, Newedge USA, LLC, Bank of Montreal, Regions Bank and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 815-10-05 Derivatives and Hedging topic, established accounting and reporting standards requiring that derivative instruments be recorded at fair value and included in the consolidated balance sheet as assets or liabilities. The Partnership has elected not to designate its derivative instruments as hedging instruments under this standard, and the change in fair value of the derivative instruments is recognized in our statement of operations. While we largely expect our realized derivative gains and losses to be offset by increases or decreases in the value of our physical purchases, we will experience volatility in reported earnings due to the recording of unrealized non-cash gains and losses on our derivative instruments prior to their maturity.

Home Heating Oil Price Volatility

In recent years, the wholesale price of home heating oil has been extremely volatile, resulting in increased consumer price sensitivity to heating costs and increased gross customer attrition. Like any other market commodity, the price of home heating oil is generally impacted by many factors, including economic and geopolitical forces. The price of home heating oil is closely linked to the price refiners pay for crude oil, which is the principal cost component of home heating oil. The volatility in the wholesale cost of home heating oil, as measured by the New York Mercantile Exchange (“Nymex”) price per gallon for fiscal 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008 by quarter, is illustrated by the following chart:

Acquisitions

During fiscal 2011, the Partnership completed four acquisitions and added approximately 8,800 home heating oil and propane accounts for an aggregate cost of approximately $9.7 million, including working capital of $1.9 million. In the first two months of fiscal 2012, the Partnership purchased two businesses with a total of 12,700 home heating oil, propane and diesel accounts, for an aggregate cost of approximately $24.1 million, including working capital of $4.5 million. In fiscal 2010, we acquired five retail heating oil dealers with approximately 56,100 home heating oil, propane and security accounts for an aggregate cost of approximately $68.8 million, including $4.2 million of working capital. In fiscal 2009, we acquired one retail heating oil dealer with approximately 3,800 home heating oil accounts for an aggregate cost of approximately $4.0 million, reduced by $0.7 million of working capital credits.

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Employees

As of September 30, 2011, we had 2,677 employees, of whom 846 were office, clerical and customer service personnel; 797 were equipment technicians; 376 were oil truck drivers and mechanics; 391 were management and 267 were employed in sales. Of these employees 854 are represented by 34 different local chapters of labor unions. Some of these unions have union administered pension plans that have significant unfunded liabilities, a portion of which could be assessed to us should we withdraw from these plans. The Partnership does not expect to withdraw from these plans. In addition, we employ approximately 500 seasonal employees (353 of which are represented by the local chapters of labor unions indicated earlier) to support the requirements of the heating season. We are currently involved in 5 union negotiations. We believe that our relations with both our union and non-union employees are generally satisfactory.

Government Regulations

We are subject to various federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. Generally, these laws impose limitations on the discharge or emission of pollutants and establish standards for the handling of solid and hazardous wastes. These laws include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), the Clean Air Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, the Clean Water Act and comparable state statutes. CERCLA, also known as the “Superfund” law, imposes joint and several liabilities without regard to fault or the legality of the original conduct on certain classes of persons that are considered to have contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance into the environment. Products stored and/or delivered by us and certain automotive waste products generated by our fleet are hazardous substances within the meaning of CERCLA or otherwise subject to investigation and cleanup under other environmental laws and regulations. While we are currently not involved with any CERCLA claims, and we have implemented programs and policies designed to address potential liabilities and costs under applicable environmental laws and regulations, failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in civil or criminal penalties in cases of non-compliance or impose liability for remediation costs.

We have incurred and continue to incur costs to address soil and groundwater contamination at some of our locations, including legacy contamination at properties that we have acquired. A number of our properties are currently undergoing remediation, in some instances funded by prior owners or operators contractually obligated to do so. To date, no material issues have arisen with respect to such prior owners or operators addressing such remediation, although there is no assurance that this will continue to be the case. In addition, we have been subject to proceedings by regulatory authorities for alleged violations of environmental and safety laws and regulations. We do not expect any of these liabilities or proceedings of which we are aware to result in material costs to, or disruptions of, our business or operations.

In addition, transportation of our products by truck are subject to regulations promulgated under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act. These regulations cover the transportation of hazardous materials and are administered by the United States Department of Transportation or similar state agencies. We conduct ongoing training programs to help ensure that our operations are in compliance with applicable safety regulations. We maintain various permits that are necessary to operate some of our facilities, some of which may be material to our operations.

You should consider carefully the risk factors discussed below, as well as all other information, as an investment in the Partnership involves a high degree of risk. Any of the risks described below could impair our business, financial condition and operating results, which could result in a partial or total loss of your investment.

Current economic conditions could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Since 2008, there has been a down turn in economic conditions in the United States due to the sequential effects of the sub-prime lending crisis, general credit market crisis, the general unavailability of financing, collateral effects on the finance and banking industries, volatile energy prices, concerns about inflation, slower economic activity, decreased consumer confidence, reduced corporate profits and capital spending, adverse business conditions, increased unemployment, liquidity concerns and declines in housing prices and house sales. More recently concerns regarding sovereign debt defaults has increased economic uncertainty.

Uncertainty about current economic conditions poses a risk as our customers may reduce or postpone spending in response to tighter credit, negative financial news and/or declines in income or asset values, which could have a material negative effect on the demand for our equipment and services and could lead to increased conservation and the possibility of certain of our customers seeking lower cost providers. Any increase in existing customers seeking lower cost providers and/or increase in our rejection rate of potential accounts because of credit considerations could increase our overall rate of net customer attrition. If adverse economic conditions persist, we could experience an increase in bad debts from financially distressed customers, which would have a negative effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.

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We rely on the continued solvency of our derivative and insurance counterparties. We regularly use derivative instruments such as futures, options, and swap agreements, in order to mitigate our exposure to market risk associated with the purchase of home heating oil for our price-protected customers, physical inventory on hand, inventory in transit and priced purchase commitments. We insure our self against catastrophic property and other losses with insurance companies.

The financial turmoil affecting the banking system and financial markets and the possibility that financial institutions may consolidate or go out of business have resulted in extreme volatility in fixed income, credit, currency and equity markets that may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. There could be a number of follow-on effects from the credit crisis on our business, including insolvency of key suppliers resulting in product delivery delays and failure of derivative counterparties and other financial institutions, negatively impacting our liquidity and financial condition.

If counterparties to our derivative instruments were to fail, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition could be materially impacted, as we would be obligated to fulfill our operational requirement of purchasing, storing and selling home heating oil, while losing the mitigating benefits of economic hedges with a failed counterparty. If one of our insurance carriers should fail, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition could be materially impacted, as we would have to fund any catastrophic loss. Currently, we have outstanding derivative instruments with the following counterparties: Cargill, Inc., Key Bank National Association, Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Societe Generale, Newedge USA, LLC, and Wachovia Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.). Our primary insurance carrier is a subsidiary of Chartis, formerly known as American International Group.

Our operating results are subject to seasonal fluctuations.

Our operating results are subject to seasonal fluctuations since the demand for home heating oil is greater during the first and second fiscal quarter of our fiscal year, which is the peak heating season. The seasonal nature of our business has resulted on average in the last five years in the sale of approximately 30% of our volume of home heating oil and propane in the first fiscal quarter and 50% of our volume in the second fiscal quarter of each fiscal year. As a result, we generally realize net income in our first and second fiscal quarters and net losses during our third and fourth fiscal quarters and we expect that the negative impact of seasonality on our third and fourth fiscal quarter operating results will continue.

Since weather conditions may adversely affect the demand for home heating oil, our financial condition is vulnerable to warm winters.

Weather conditions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in which we operate have a significant impact on the demand for home heating oil because our customers depend on this product principally for space heating purposes. As a result, weather conditions may materially adversely impact our operating results and financial condition. During the peak-heating season of October through March, sales of home heating oil historically have represented approximately 80% of our annual home heating oil volume. Actual weather conditions can vary substantially from year to year or from month to month, significantly affecting our financial performance. Furthermore, warmer than normal temperatures in one or more regions in which we operate can significantly decrease the total volume we sell and the gross profit realized and, consequently, our results of operations. For example, in fiscal 2002 and fiscal 2006, temperatures were significantly warmer than normal for the areas in which we sell home heating oil, which adversely affected the amount of net income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA that we generated during these periods. As of September 30, 2011, approximately 38.6% of our total home heating oil customers are in New York State. In fiscal 2002, temperatures in Central Park, New York City were an average of 22.7% warmer than in fiscal 2001 and 18.9% warmer than normal. To partially mitigate the adverse effect of warm weather on our cash flows, we have used weather hedging contracts for a number of years. For the fiscal 2012 heating season, we have entered into a weather hedge contract with Renaissance Trading Ltd. under which we are entitled to receive a payment of $35,000 per heating degree-day shortfall, when the total number of heating degree-days in the period covered is less than 92.5% of the 10-year average. The hedge covers the period from November 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012 taken as a whole, and has a maximum payout of $12.5 million. However, there can be no assurance that this hedge will be adequate to protect us from adverse effects of weather conditions or that we may be able to obtain similar protection in the future.

Our operating results will be adversely affected if we continue to experience significant net attrition in our home heating oil and propane customer base.

Our net attrition rate of home heating oil and propane customers for fiscal 2011, 2010, and 2009 was approximately 3.5%, 5.0% and 7.6%, respectively. Starting October 1, 2010, we have included propane customers in this calculation as several of our acquisitions since such date have included propane operations. This rate represents the net of our annual gross customer losses after gross customer gains. For fiscal 2011, 2010, and 2009, we had gross customer losses of 16.7%, 16.6% and 21.1%, respectively, which were partially offset by gross customer gains during these periods of 13.2% 11.6% and 13.5%, respectively. The gain of a new customer does not fully compensate for the loss of an existing customer because of the expenses incurred during the first year to acquire a new customer. Customer losses are the result of various factors, including but not limited to:

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The continuing unprecedented volatility in the energy markets has intensified price competition and added to our difficulty in reducing net customer attrition. For additional information about customer attrition, see Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Customer Attrition.”

Because of the highly competitive nature of the home heating oil and propane business, we may not be able to retain existing customers or acquire new customers, which would have an adverse impact on our operating results and financial condition.

Our home heating oil and propane business is subject to substantial competition. Most of our operating locations compete with numerous distributors, primarily on the basis of reliability of service, price and response to customer service needs. Each operating location operates in its own competitive environment.

We compete with distributors offering a broad range of services and prices, from full-service distributors, like ourselves, to those offering delivery only. Like many companies in the home heating oil and propane business, we provide home heating equipment repair service on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 52 weeks a year basis. We believe that this tends to build customer loyalty. In some instances homeowners have formed buying cooperatives that seek to purchase fuel oil from distributors at a price lower than individual customers are otherwise able to obtain. We also compete for retail customers with suppliers of alternative energy products, principally natural gas, propane and electricity. Our customer losses to natural gas conversions for fiscal years 2011, 2010, and 2009 were 1.4%, 1.2% and 1.6% respectively.

If we are unable to compete effectively, we may lose existing customers or fail to acquire new customers, which would have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

If we do not make acquisitions on economically acceptable terms, our future growth will be limited.

Our industry is not a growth industry because new housing generally uses natural gas when it is available, and competition has also increased from alternative energy sources. Accordingly, future growth will depend on our ability to make acquisitions on economically acceptable terms. We cannot assure that we will be able to identify attractive acquisition candidates in our sector in the future or that we will be able to acquire businesses on economically acceptable terms. Factors that may adversely affect our operating and financial results may limit our access to capital and adversely affect our ability to make acquisitions. Under the terms of our amended and restated revolving credit facility that we sometimes refer to in this Report as the revolving credit facility, we are restricted from making any individual acquisition in excess of $25.0 million without the lenders’ approval. In addition, to make an acquisition, we are required to have Availability (as defined in the revolving credit facility) of at least $40.0 million, on a historical pro forma and forward-looking basis. This covenant restriction may limit our ability to make acquisitions. Any acquisition may involve potential risks to us and ultimately to our unitholders, including:

In addition, acquisitions may be dilutive to earnings and distributions to unitholders, and any additional debt incurred to finance acquisitions may, among other things, affect our ability to make distributions to our unitholders.

Our substantial debt and other financial obligations could impair our financial condition and our ability to fulfill our debt obligations.

At September 30, 2011, the Partnership had outstanding $125.0 million (excluding discount) of senior notes maturing December 2017, which accrue interest at an annual rate of 8.875% and require semi-annual interest payments on June 1 and December 1 of each year. Our substantial indebtedness and other financial obligations could:

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If we are unable to meet our debt service obligations and other financial obligations, we could be forced to restructure or refinance our indebtedness and other financial transactions, seek additional equity capital or sell our assets. We might then be unable to obtain such financing or capital or sell our assets on satisfactory terms, if at all.

Unitholders have in the past and may in the future have to report income for Federal income tax purposes on their investment in the Partnership without receiving any cash distributions from us.

Star Gas Partners is a master limited partnership. Currently, our main asset and source of income is our 100% ownership interest in Star Acquisitions, Inc. (“Star Acquisitions”), which is the parent company of Petro Holdings, Inc. Our unitholders do not receive any of the tax benefits normally associated with owning units in a publicly traded partnership, as any cash coming from Star Acquisitions to us will generally have been taxed first at a corporate level and then may also be taxable to our unitholders as dividends, reported via annual Forms K-1. We expect that an investor will be allocated taxable income (mostly dividend income from Star Acquisitions, interest income and possibly cancellation of indebtedness income) regardless of whether a cash distribution has been paid. Our unitholders are required to report for Federal income tax purposes their allocable share of our income, gains, losses, deductions and credits, regardless of whether we make cash distributions. For example, our unitholders had $16.3 million in dividend income reported on their 2010 K-1’s related to dividends received by the Partnership that the Partnership used to repurchase units.

Increases in wholesale product costs beyond current levels may have adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Increases in wholesale product costs beyond current levels may have adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including the following:

The volatility in wholesale energy costs may adversely affect our liquidity.

Our business requires a significant investment in working capital to finance accounts receivable and inventory during the heating season. Under our revolving credit facility, we may borrow up to $250 million, which increases to $350 million during the peak winter months from December through April of each year. The Partnership is obligated to meet certain financial covenants under the revolving credit facility, including the requirement to maintain at all times either excess availability (borrowing base less amounts borrowed and letters of credit issued) of 12.5% of the revolving credit commitment then in effect or a fixed charge coverage ratio (as defined in the revolving credit facility agreement) of not less than 1.1.

If increases in wholesale product costs cause our working capital requirements to exceed the amounts available under our revolving credit facility or should we fail to maintain the required availability, we would not have sufficient working capital to operate our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We generally use forward swaps with members of our lending group to manage market risk associated with our customers, our physical inventory and fuel we use for our vehicles. These institutions have not required an initial cash margin deposit or any mark to market maintenance margin for these swaps. Any mark to market exposure is reserved against our borrowing base and can thus reduce the amount available to us under our revolving credit facility. The mark to market reserve against our borrowing base for swap derivative instruments with our lending group was $7.8 million as of September 30, 2011, $6.2 million as of September 30, 2010 and $4.7 million as of September 30, 2009.

For our ceiling price customers and some of our fixed price customers we purchase call options, which usually require us to pay an up front cash payment. This reduces our liquidity, as we must pay for the option before any sales are made to the customer. We also purchase synthetic call options which require us to pay for these options as they expire.

For certain of our supply contracts, we are required to establish the purchase price in advance of receiving the physical product. This

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occurs at the end of the month and is usually 20 days prior to receipt of the product. We use futures contracts or swaps to “short” the purchase commitment such that the commitment floats with the market. As a result, any upward movement in the market for home heating oil would reduce our liquidity, as we would be required to post additional cash collateral for a futures contract or our availability to borrow under our bank facility would be reduced in the case of a swap. At December 31, 2011, we expect to have approximately 40 million gallons of purchase commitments and physical inventory shorted with a futures contract or swap. Assuming a $1.00 per gallon increase in the wholesale price of heating oil, our near term liquidity would be reduced by $40 million.

At September 30, 2011, we had approximately 141,400 customers, or 38% of our residential customer base, on the balanced payment plan. If wholesale prices increased and we failed to recalculate the balanced payments to reflect higher retail selling prices on a timely basis, our liquidity could also be reduced. Generally, customer credit balances are at their low point after the end of the heating season and at their peak prior to the beginning of the heating season.

Sudden and sharp oil price increases that cannot be passed on to customers may adversely affect our operating results.

Our industry is a “margin-based” business in which gross profit depends on the excess of sales prices per gallon over supply costs per gallon. Consequently, our profitability is sensitive to changes in the wholesale product cost caused by changes in supply or other market conditions. These factors are beyond our control and thus, when there are sudden and sharp increases in the wholesale cost of home heating oil, we may not be able to pass on these increases to customers through increased retail sales prices. In an effort to retain existing accounts and attract new customers we may offer discounts, which will impact the net per gallon gross margin realized.

A significant portion of our home heating oil volume is sold to price-protected customers (ceiling and fixed) and our gross margins could be adversely affected if we are not able to effectively hedge against fluctuations in the volume and cost of product sold to these customers.

A significant portion of our home heating oil volume is sold to individual customers under an arrangement pre-establishing the ceiling sales price or a fixed price of home heating oil over a fixed period. When the customer makes a purchase commitment for the next period we currently purchase option contracts, swaps and futures contracts for a substantial majority of the heating oil that we expect to sell to these price-protected customers. The amount of home heating oil volume that we hedge per price-protected customer is based upon the estimated fuel consumption per average customer, per month. If the actual usage exceeds the amount of the hedged volume on a monthly basis, we could be required to obtain additional volume at unfavorable margins. In addition, should actual usage in any month be less than the hedged volume, (including, for example, as a result of early terminations by fixed price customers) our hedging losses could be greater. Currently, we have elected not to designate our derivative instruments as hedging instruments under FASB ASC 815-10-05 Derivatives and Hedging topic, and the change in fair value of the derivative instruments is recognized in our statement of operations. Therefore, we experience volatility in earnings as these currently outstanding derivative contracts are marked to market and non-cash gains or losses are recorded in the statement of operations.

We may be adversely affected by the impact of financial reform legislation on derivatives.

In 2010, the U.S. Congress passed comprehensive financial reform legislation that requires regulated banks with derivatives trading units to spin them off and that requires substantially all derivatives be traded through a central clearing house, subject to margin requirements. This legislation could substantially increase our cost in using certain derivatives and could make such derivatives less available, which could subject us to additional risks to the extent we are not able to hedge the risks in another manner. The full impact of this legislation on us cannot be fully determined until the required rules implementing this legislation have been drafted and adopted by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the SEC.

Significant declines in the wholesale price of home heating oil may cause price-protected customers to renegotiate or terminate their arrangements which may adversely impact our gross profit and net income.

When the wholesale price of home heating oil declines significantly after a customer enters into a price protection arrangement, some customers elect to renegotiate their arrangement in order to enter into a lower cost pricing plan with us or terminate their arrangement and switch to a competitor. As a result of significant decreases in the price of home heating oil following the summer of 2008, many price protection customers decided to renegotiate their agreements with us in fiscal 2009. It is our policy to bill a termination fee when customers terminate their arrangement with us. It is our belief that approximately 10,000 customers chose another supplier as a result of being billed the termination fee.

We are subject to operating and litigation risks that could adversely affect our operating results whether or not covered by insurance.

Our operations are subject to all operating hazards and risks normally incidental to handling, storing, transporting and otherwise providing customers with our products. As a result, we may be a defendant in legal proceedings and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business.

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We maintain insurance policies with insurers in amounts and with coverage and deductibles that we believe are reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that this insurance will be adequate to protect us from all material expenses related to potential future claims for remediation costs and personal and property damage or that these levels of insurance will be available in the future at economical prices.

Our operations are subject to operational hazards and our insurance reserves may not be adequate to cover actual losses.

In storing and delivering product to our customers, our operations are subject to operational hazards such as natural disasters, adverse weather, accidents, fires, explosions, hazardous materials releases, mechanical failures and other events beyond our control. If any of these events were to occur, we could incur substantial losses because of personal injury or loss of life, severe damage to and destruction of property and equipment, and pollution or other environmental damage resulting in curtailment or suspension of our related operations.

As we self-insure workers’ compensation, automobile and general liability claims up to pre-established limits, we establish reserves based upon expectations as to what our ultimate liability will be for claims using our historical developmental factors. We evaluate on an annual basis the potential for changes in loss estimates with the support of qualified actuaries. As of September 30, 2011, we had approximately $42.7 million of insurance reserves and had issued $44.2 million in letters of credit for current and future claims. The ultimate settlement of these claims could differ materially from the assumptions used to calculate the reserves, which could have a material effect on our results of operations.

Our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected by governmental regulation and associated environmental and regulatory costs.

Our business is subject to a wide range of federal and state laws and regulations related to environmental and other matters. Such laws and regulations have become increasingly stringent over time. We may experience increased costs due to stricter pollution control requirements or liabilities resulting from noncompliance with operating or other regulatory permits. New regulations might adversely impact operations, including those relating to underground storage and transportation of the products that we sell. In addition, there are environmental risks inherently associated with home heating oil operations, such as the risks of accidental release or spill. We have incurred and continue to incur costs to address soil and groundwater contamination at some of our locations. We cannot be sure that we have identified all such contamination, that we know the full extent of our obligations with respect to contamination of which we are aware, or that we will not become responsible for additional contamination not yet discovered. It is possible that material costs and liabilities will be incurred, including those relating to claims for damages to property and persons.

In addition, our financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions to our unitholders may be negatively impacted by significant changes in Federal and State tax law.

Proposed legislation concerning the regulation of greenhouse gases and other issues that impact our operations could, if adopted, increase our costs and/or require changes to our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

There is increasing attention in the United States and worldwide concerning the issue of climate change and the effect of emissions of greenhouse gases, in particular from the combustion of fossil fuels. There have been efforts by Congress and the EPA to develop new federal laws and regulations that could lead to the adoption of a mandatory program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through, for example, an economy-wide cap-and-trade program, a carbon tax or a combination of both. Debate continues on the direction, scope and timing of U.S. policy on the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. It is probable that any regulatory program that caps emissions or imposes a carbon tax will increase costs for us and our customers, which could lead to increased conservation or customers seeking lower cost alternatives. However, we cannot yet estimate the compliance costs or business impact of potential national, regional or state greenhouse gas emissions reduction legislation, regulations or initiatives, since such programs and proposals are in the early stages of development and any final program, if adopted, could vary from current proposals.

Furthermore, laws and regulations that affect our operations continue to evolve at both the state and federal levels, which may ultimately increase our compliance costs. Changes in regulations under different political administrations, the imposition of additional regulations, or the enactment of new legislation that impacts employment, labor, trade, transportation or logistics, health care, tax or environmental issues could have the potential of materially impacting our financial condition or results of operations. (See also the risks discussed above under the heading “We may be adversely affected by the impact of financial reform legislation on derivatives.”)

We will continue to monitor and evaluate federal, regional or state programs and proposals and judicial and administrative decisions that could affect our customers or operations.

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Energy efficiency and new technology may reduce the demand for our products and adversely affect our operating results.

Increased conservation and technological advances, including installation of improved insulation and the development of more efficient furnaces and other heating devices, have adversely affected the demand for our products by retail customers. Future conservation measures or technological advances in heating, conservation, energy generation or other devices might reduce demand and adversely affect our operating results.

Conflicts of interest have arisen and could arise in the future.

Conflicts of interest have arisen and could arise in the future as a result of relationships between the general partner and its affiliates, on the one hand, and us or any of our limited partners and noteholders, on the other hand. As a result of these conflicts the general partner may favor its own interests and those of its affiliates over the interests of the unitholders and noteholders. The nature of these conflicts is ongoing and includes the following considerations:

The risk of global terrorism and political unrest may adversely affect the economy and the price and availability of the products that we sell and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Terrorist attacks and political unrest may adversely impact the price and availability of the products that we sell, our results of operations, our ability to raise capital and our future growth. The impact that the foregoing may have on our industry in general, and on our business in particular, is not known at this time. An act of terror could result in disruptions of crude oil supplies, markets and facilities, and the source of the products that we sell could be direct or indirect targets. Terrorist activity may also hinder our ability to transport our products if our normal means of transportation become damaged as a result of an attack. Instability in the financial markets as a result of terrorism could also affect our ability to raise capital. Terrorist activity could likely lead to increased volatility in the prices of our products. Insurance carriers are routinely excluding coverage for terrorist activities from their normal policies, but are required to offer such coverage as a result of new federal legislation. We have opted to purchase this coverage with respect to our property and casualty insurance programs. This additional coverage has resulted in additional insurance premiums.

The impact of hurricanes and other natural disasters could cause disruptions in supply and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Hurricanes, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, and other natural disasters may cause disruptions in the supply chains for home heating oil and other products that we sell. Disruptions in supply could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, causing an increase in wholesale prices and a decrease in supply.

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Cash distributions (if any) are not guaranteed and may fluctuate with performance and reserve requirements.

Distributions of available cash by us to unitholders will depend on the amount of cash generated, and distributions may fluctuate based on our performance. The actual amount of cash that is available will depend upon numerous factors, including:

Our operations are conducted through Petro Holdings, Inc. (a Minnesota corporation that is our indirect wholly owned subsidiary) and its subsidiaries, all of which are corporations subject to Federal and state income taxes. At December 31, 2011, we estimate that our Federal (Net Operating Loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) will be $12.8 million subject to annual limitations of between $1.0 million and $2.2 million that can be used. As we have almost fully exhausted our Federal NOLs, the amount of cash taxes that our subsidiaries will pay going forward will increase significantly in future years, which will reduce the annual amount of cash available for distribution to unitholders.

Most of these factors are beyond the control of the general partner. Our Partnership Agreement gives the general partner discretion in establishing reserves for the proper conduct of our business, including acquisitions. These reserves will also affect the amount of cash available for distribution.

The Partnership’s amended and restated revolving credit facility and the indenture for its senior notes due December 2017, both impose certain restrictions on its ability to pay distributions to unitholders. The most restrictive covenant is found in the revolving credit facility. In order to make any distributions to unitholders, the Partnership must maintain availability of 17.5% of the maximum facility size and a fixed charge coverage ratio of not less than 1.15, which is based on Adjusted EBITDA. (See Note 10 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements—Long-Term Debt and Bank Facility Borrowings)

We are a holding company and have no material operations or assets. Accordingly, we are dependent on distributions from our subsidiaries to service our debt obligations. These distributions are not guaranteed and may be restricted. In addition, the notes are non-recourse to our subsidiaries.

We are a holding company for our direct and indirect subsidiaries. We have no material operations and only limited assets. Accordingly, we are dependent on cash distributions from our subsidiaries to service our debt obligations. Noteholders will not receive payments required by the notes unless our subsidiaries are able to make distributions to us after they first comply with the restrictions on distributions under the terms of their own borrowing arrangements and reserve any necessary amounts to meet their own financial obligations.

Additionally, our obligations under the notes are non-recourse to our subsidiaries. Therefore, if we should fail to pay interest or principal on the notes or breach any of our other obligations under the notes or the indenture, noteholders would not be able to obtain any such payments or obtain any other remedy from our subsidiaries, which are not liable for any of our obligations under the indenture or the notes.

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We are not required to accumulate cash for the purpose of meeting our future obligations to our noteholders, which may limit the cash available to service our notes.

Subject to the limitations on restricted payments that are contained in the revolving credit facility and in the indenture governing the notes, we are not required to accumulate cash for the purpose of meeting our future obligations to our noteholders. As a result, we do not expect to accumulate significant amounts of cash. Our general partner will determine the future use of our cash resources and has broad discretion in determining such uses and in establishing reserves for such uses, which may include but are not limited to:

Depending on the timing and amount our use of cash, this could significantly reduce the cash available to us in subsequent periods to make payments on the notes.

Restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our indebtedness and other financial obligations of our subsidiaries may reduce our operating flexibility.

The indenture governing our notes and the revolving credit facility agreement contain various covenants that limit our ability and the ability of specified subsidiaries of ours to, among other things:

These restrictions could limit our ability to obtain future financings, make needed capital expenditures, withstand a future downturn in our business or the economy in general, conduct operations or otherwise take advantage of business opportunities that may arise. The agreements also require us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial conditions. Our ability to meet those financial ratios and conditions can be affected by events beyond their control, such as weather conditions and general economic conditions. Accordingly, we may be unable to meet those ratios and conditions.

Any breach of any of these covenants or failure to meet any of these ratios or conditions could result in a default under the terms of the relevant indebtedness or other financial obligations, which could cause such indebtedness or other financial obligations, and by reason of cross-default provisions, the notes, to become immediately due and payable. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders could initiate a bankruptcy proceeding or liquidation proceeding or proceed against the collateral, if any. If the lenders of our indebtedness or other financial obligations accelerate the repayment of borrowings or other amounts owed, we may not have sufficient assets to repay our indebtedness or other financial obligations, including the notes.

Not applicable.

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We provide services to our customers from Maine to South Carolina of the United States from 36 principal operating locations and 53 depots, 31 of which are owned and 58 of which are leased. As of September 30, 2011, we had a fleet of 984 truck and transport vehicles, the majority of which were owned and 1,082 service vans, the majority of which were leased. We lease our corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Our obligations under our revolving credit facility are secured by liens and mortgages on substantially all of the Partnership’s and subsidiaries’ real and personal property.

We are involved from time to time in litigation incidental to the conduct of our business, but we are not currently a party to any material lawsuit or proceeding.

PART II

The common units, representing limited partner interests in the Partnership, are listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (“NYSE”) under the symbol “SGU”.

The following tables set forth the high and low closing price ranges for the common units and the cash distribution declared on each unit for the fiscal 2011 and 2010 quarters indicated.

As of November 30, 2011, there were approximately 410 holders of record of common units.

There is no established public trading market for the Partnership’s 0.3 million general partner units.

Partnership Distribution Provisions

Commencing with the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2008, we are required to make distributions in an amount equal to our Available Cash, as defined in our Partnership Agreement, no more than 45 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, to holders of record on the applicable record dates. Available Cash, as defined in our Partnership Agreement, generally means all cash on hand at the end of the relevant fiscal quarter less the amount of cash reserves established by the Board of Directors of our general partner in its reasonable discretion for future cash requirements. These reserves are established for the proper conduct of our business, including the payment of debt principal and interest, for minimum quarterly distributions during the next four quarters and to comply with applicable laws and the terms of any debt agreements or other agreement to which we are subject. The Board of Directors of our general partner reviews the level of Available Cash each quarter based upon information provided by management.

According to the terms of our Partnership Agreement, minimum quarterly distributions on the common units accrue at the rate of $0.0675 per quarter ($0.27 on an annual basis). The information concerning restrictions on distributions required by Item 5. of this report is incorporated by reference to Note 4. Quarterly Distribution of Available Cash, of the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements.

The revolving credit facility and the indenture for the notes both impose certain restrictions on our ability to pay distributions to unitholders. The most restrictive covenant is found in the Partnership’s revolving credit facility. Under the terms of our revolving credit facility, the Partnership must maintain availability of 17.5% of the maximum facility size and a fixed charge coverage ratio of not less than 1.15 in order to pay any distribution.

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On October 25, 2011, we declared a quarterly distribution of $0.0775 per unit, or $0.31 per unit on an annualized basis, on all common units in respect of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 payable on November 14, 2011 to holders of record on November 4, 2011. In accordance with our Partnership Agreement, the amount of distributions in excess of the minimum quarterly distribution of $0.0675, are distributed (i) 90% to the holders of common units and (ii) 10% to the holders of the general partner units (until certain distribution levels are met), subject to the management incentive compensation plan. As a result, $5.0 million was paid to the common unit holders, $0.06 million was paid to the general partner and $0.04 million was paid to management pursuant to the management incentive compensation plan.

Common Unit Repurchase and Retirement

On July 19, 2010, the Board of Directors of the Partnership’s General Partner authorized the repurchase of up to 7.0 million of the Partnership’s common units. The authorized common unit repurchases may be made from time-to-time in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or in such other manner deemed appropriate by management. In order to facilitate the repurchase program, the Partnership entered into a prearranged unit repurchase plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended for up to 4.0 million common units with a third party broker. There is no guarantee of the exact number of units that will be purchased under the program and the Partnership may discontinue purchases at any time. The program does not have a time limit. The Partnership’s repurchase activities take into account SEC safe harbor rules and guidance for issuer repurchases. All of the common units purchased in the repurchase program will be retired.

(in thousands, except per unit amounts)

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The selected financial data as of September 30, 2011 and 2010, and for the years ended September 30, 2011, 2010 and 2009 is derived from the financial statements of the Partnership included elsewhere in this Report. The selected financial data as of September 30, 2009, 2008 and 2007 and for the years ended September 30, 2008 and 2007 is derived from financial statements of the Partnership not included in this Report. See Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

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The method of calculating Adjusted EBITDA may not be consistent with that of other companies and each of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA has its limitations as an analytical tool, should not be considered in isolation and should be viewed in conjunction with measurements that are computed in accordance with GAAP. Some of the limitations of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are:

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is calculated for the fiscal years ended September 30 as follows:

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Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Disclosure

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes “forward-looking statements” which represent our expectations or beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties, including those associated with the effect of weather conditions on our financial performance, the price and supply of the products that we sell, the consumption patterns of our customers, our ability to obtain satisfactory gross profit margins, our ability to obtain new customers and retain existing customers, our ability to make strategic acquisitions, the impact of litigation, our ability to contract for our current and future supply needs, natural gas conversions, future union relations and the outcome of current and future union negotiations, the impact of current and future governmental regulations, including environmental, health, and safety regulations, the ability to attract and retain employees, customer credit worthiness, counterparty credit worthiness, marketing plans, general economic conditions and new technology. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Report including, without limitation, the statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere herein, are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “seek,” “estimate,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” and “Business Strategy.” Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations (“Cautionary Statements”) are disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Partnership or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the Cautionary Statements. Unless otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this Report.

Overview

The following is a discussion of the historical financial condition and results of our operations and should be read in conjunction with the description of our business and the historical financial and operating data and notes thereto included elsewhere in this Report.

Seasonality

The following matters should be considered in analyzing our financial results. Our fiscal year ends on September 30. All references to quarters and years respectively in this document are to fiscal quarters and years unless otherwise noted. The seasonal nature of our business has resulted, on average during the last five years, in the sale of approximately 30% of our volume of home heating oil and propane in the first fiscal quarter and 50% of our volume in the second fiscal quarter of each fiscal year, the peak heating season. We generally realize net income in both of these quarters and net losses during the quarters ending June and September. In addition, sales volume typically fluctuates from year to year in response to variations in weather, wholesale energy prices and other factors.

Degree Day

A “degree day” is an industry measurement of temperature designed to evaluate energy demand and consumption. Degree days are based on how far the average temperature departs from 65°F. Each degree of temperature above 65°F is counted as one cooling degree day, and each degree of temperature below 65°F is counted as one heating degree day. Degree days are accumulated each day over the course of a year and can be compared to a monthly or a long-term (multi-year) average to see if a month or a year was warmer or cooler than usual. Degree days are officially observed by the National Weather Service and officially archived by the National Climatic Data Center. For purposes of evaluating our results of operations, we use the normal heating degree day amount as reported by the National Weather Service in our operating areas.

Impact on Operating Results of Increasing Wholesale Product Costs

During the fiscal 2011 heating season, wholesale product costs increased significantly, which limited our ability to maintain and/or expand margins for variable and ceiling priced customers. Conversely, during certain peak months of the fiscal 2010 and 2009 heating seasons, wholesale product costs declined, which contributed to our ability to expand our per gallon margins during these periods, as wholesale prices decreased more rapidly than our retail prices. For example, over 90% of our ceiling customers reached their maximum contract price during the three months ended March 31, 2011, as compared to 70% during the three months ended March 31, 2010. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, less than 1% of our ceiling customers reached their maximum contract price. If wholesale product costs continue to increase, the Partnership’s ability to maintain and/or expand per gallon margins could be greatly diminished, our profitability measures would be adversely impacted, gross customer losses could increase and our ability to attract new customers might decrease. The 2011 increase in the cost of home heating oil and other petroleum products in general has also resulted in an increase in certain operating expenses that are directly tied to the underlying cost of product such as bad debt expense, credit card processing costs, vehicle fuels and other transportation expenses. For fiscal 2011, the Partnership increased its reserve rate for doubtful accounts when compared to fiscal 2010 in response to an 11 day increase in the days sales outstanding for accounts receivable, increased volume due to colder temperatures and higher selling prices. If wholesale product

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costs continue to increase, future operating costs will also increase. In addition, interest expense may rise further as the Partnership is required to finance a higher level of accounts receivable and inventory.

Home Heating Oil Price Volatility

In recent years, the wholesale price of home heating oil has been extremely volatile, resulting in increased consumer price sensitivity to heating costs and increased gross customer attrition. As a commodity, the price of home heating oil is generally impacted by many factors, including economic and geopolitical forces. The price of home heating oil is closely linked to the price refiners pay for crude oil, which is the principal cost component of home heating oil. The volatility in the wholesale cost of home heating oil, as measured by the New York Mercantile Exchange (“Nymex”) price per gallon for fiscal 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008 by quarter, is illustrated in the following chart:

Impact on Liquidity of Wholesale Product Cost Volatility

Our liquidity is adversely impacted in times of increasing wholesale product costs, as we must use cash to fund our hedging requirements and a portion of the increased levels of accounts receivable and inventory. Our liquidity is also adversely impacted at times by sudden and sharp decreases in wholesale product costs due to the increased margin requirements for futures contracts and collateral requirements for options and swaps that we use to manage market risks related to our ceiling and fixed price customers and physical inventory that are not immediately offset by lower inventory and accounts receivable carrying costs.

Impact of Warm Weather on Operating Results; Weather Hedge Contract

Weather conditions have a significant impact on the demand for home heating oil and propane because our customers depend on these products principally for heating purposes. Actual weather conditions can vary substantially from year to year, significantly affecting our financial performance. To partially mitigate the adverse effect of warm weather on our cash flows, we have used weather hedging contracts for a number of years. For the fiscal 2012 heating season, we have entered into a weather hedge contract with Renaissance Trading Ltd. under which we are entitled to receive a payment of $35,000 per heating degree-day shortfall, when the total number of heating degree-days in the period covered is less than 92.5% of the 10-year average. The hedge covers the period from November 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012 taken as a whole, and has a maximum payout of $12.5 million. In six of the last 30 years, we would have received a payment under this contract. The average payment for those six years would have been $5.4 million.

Per Gallon Gross Profit Margins

We believe the change in home heating oil and propane margins should be evaluated on a cents per gallon basis, before the effects of increases or decreases in the fair value of derivative instruments, as we believe that realized per gallon margins should not include the impact of non-cash changes in the market value of hedges before the settlement of the underlying transaction.

A significant portion of our home heating oil volume is sold to individual customers under an arrangement pre-establishing a ceiling sales price or fixed price for home heating oil over a fixed period of time (generally 12 months). When these price-protected customers agree to purchase home heating oil from us for the next heating season, we purchase option contracts, swaps and futures contracts for a substantial majority of the heating oil that we expect to sell to these customers. The amount of home heating oil volume that we hedge per price-protected customer is based upon the estimated fuel consumption per average customer, per month. In the event that the actual usage exceeds the amount of the hedged volume on a monthly basis, we may be required to obtain additional volume at unfavorable costs. In addition, should actual usage in any month be less than the hedged volume, our hedging losses could be greater, reducing expected margins.

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Derivatives

FASB ASC 815-10-05 Derivatives and Hedging topic, established accounting and reporting standards requiring that derivative instruments be recorded at fair value and included in the consolidated balance sheet as assets or liabilities. To the extent derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges are effective, as defined under this standard, changes in fair value are recognized in other comprehensive income until the forecasted hedged item is recognized in earnings. We have elected not to designate our derivative instruments as hedging instruments under this standard, and, as a result, the changes in fair value of the derivative instruments are recognized in our statement of operations. Therefore, we experience volatility in earnings as outstanding derivative instruments are marked to market and non-cash gains and losses are recorded prior to the sale of the commodity to the customer. The volatility in any given period related to unrealized non-cash gains or losses on derivative home heating oil and propane instruments can be significant to our overall results. However, we ultimately expect those gains and losses to be offset by the cost of product when purchased.

Income Taxes—Net Operating Loss Carry Forward

At December 31, 2011, we estimate that our Federal (Net Operating Loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) will be $12.8 million subject to annual limitations of between $1.0 million and $2.2 million that can be used. As we have almost fully exhausted our Federal NOLs, the amount of cash taxes that our subsidiaries will pay going forward will increase significantly in future years, which will reduce the annual amount of cash available for distribution to unitholders.

Income Taxes—Book Versus Tax Deductions

The amount of cash flow that we generate in any given year depends upon a variety of factors including the amount of cash income taxes that our subsidiaries are required to pay. The amount of depreciation and amortization that we deduct for book (i.e. financial reporting) purposes will differ from the amount that our subsidiaries can deduct for tax purposes. The table below compares the estimated depreciation and amortization for book purposes to the amount that our subsidiaries expect to deduct for tax purposes. Our subsidiaries file their tax returns based on a calendar year. The amounts below are based on our September 30, fiscal year.

Estimated Depreciation and Amortization Expense

In addition, the Partnership incurs approximately $2 million a year in general and administrative expenses that are not subject to Federal or state income taxes and do not provide the Partnership any income tax deductions.

Income Taxes—Consideration of Election to be Taxed as an Association or “C Corporation”

Currently, our main asset and source of income is our 100% ownership interest in Star Acquisitions, which is the parent company of Petro Holdings, Inc. Our unitholders do not receive any of the tax benefits normally associated with owning units in a publicly traded partnership, as any cash coming from Star Acquisitions to us will generally have been taxed first at a corporate level and then may also be taxable to our unitholders as dividends, reported via annual Forms K-1. The production of the Forms K-1 themselves is an expensive and administratively intensive process. Thus, we have all the administrative issues and costs associated with being a large, publicly traded partnership, but our unitholders do not currently receive any material tax benefits from this structure.

To reduce these administrative expenses and to better rationalize our tax reporting structure we have considered the possibility of making an election sometime in the future to be treated as a corporation for Federal and state income tax purposes. While we would still remain a publicly traded partnership for legal and governance purposes, for income tax purposes our unitholders would be treated as owning stock in a corporation rather than being partners in a partnership. After reviewing the potential costs and benefits of such a conversion, we have decided not to proceed with it at this time, but we may consider it further in the future.

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EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP financial measures)

EBITDA (Earnings from continuing operations before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) and Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings from continuing operations before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, (increase) decrease in the fair value of derivatives, gain or loss on debt redemption, goodwill impairment, and other non-cash and non-operating charges) are non-GAAP financial measures that are used as supplemental financial measures by management and external users of our financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks and research analysts, to assess:

The method of calculating Adjusted EBITDA may not be consistent with that of other companies and each of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA has its limitations as an analytical tool, should not be considered in isolation and should be viewed in conjunction with measurements that are computed in accordance with GAAP. Some of the limitations of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are: