CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Dec. 27, 2014	Dec. 28, 2013
Revenues
Propane	$ 354,650us-gaap_PropaneRevenue	$ 438,594us-gaap_PropaneRevenue
Fuel oil and refined fuels	38,930sph_FuelOilAndRefinedFuels	54,268sph_FuelOilAndRefinedFuels
Natural gas and electricity	15,967us-gaap_UtilityRevenue	18,316us-gaap_UtilityRevenue
All other	13,397us-gaap_OtherSalesRevenueNet	14,878us-gaap_OtherSalesRevenueNet
Total Revenues	422,944us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	526,056us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Costs and expenses
Cost of products sold	187,921us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold	280,526us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold
Operating	107,117us-gaap_OperatingCostsAndExpenses	113,313us-gaap_OperatingCostsAndExpenses
General and administrative	19,309us-gaap_GeneralAndAdministrativeExpense	17,335us-gaap_GeneralAndAdministrativeExpense
Depreciation and amortization	32,629	34,827
Total Expenses	346,976us-gaap_CostsAndExpenses	446,001us-gaap_CostsAndExpenses
Operating income	75,968us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	80,055us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest expense, net	19,999us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet	21,207us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet
Income before provision for income taxes	55,969	58,848
Provision for income taxes	162us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	177us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Net income	$ 55,807us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	$ 58,671us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Net Income per Common Unit - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.92us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 0.97us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic
Weighted average number of Common Units outstanding - basic (in shares)	60,523	60,389
Net Income per Common Unit - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.92us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 0.97us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted
Weighted average number of Common Units outstanding - diluted (in shares)	60,796	60,620

Revenue from sale of fuel oil, kerosene, gasoline, and diesel sales.

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