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Scientist have predicted this two years ago and they say it will get worse up to 8 years and that also includes more severe winters for the mid atlantic regions.Watch natural gas,going for $13 and climbing.Worth buying AMEP and other N gas related stocks to hold.
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Utility company says prepare for record-high natural gas prices By Associated Press
DES MOINES (AP) — Residents should prepare for record-high natural gas prices this winter, officials with MidAmerican Energy say.
Spokeswoman Michelle Reuter said customers are being encouraged to plan ahead and look for ways to conserve energy this winter.
The cost of natural gas is expected to be as much as 40 percent more than last year, she said.
“We’re in a period of unprecedented gas prices,” said Jeff Gust, vice president of energy management for MidAmerican. “We’re seeing prices we’ve never seen before.”
Officials believe the cost of oil contributed to the rise, Gust said.
When oil went up, industries that use it as an energy source switched over to natural gas, driving up the demand. Adding to that demand were natural gas-fueled electric generating plants that cranked out electricity to run air conditioners this summer.
Hurricane Katrina also affected costs, Gust said.
Several gas suppliers that are based in the Gulf Coast suffered damage, but MidAmerican does not expect any disruptions in its resources, Gust said.
The company buys the majority of its natural gas from producers in Canada, Wyoming, Texas and Oklahoma, Gust said.
Despite the increase in prices, Gust said utility officials are as concerned about a frigid winter.
One of the biggest drivers of price is weather, he said
With five of the last six winters being warmer than normal, some experts believe “we’re due for a cold one,” Gust said.
Reuters said there are different options available to help customers manage their high heating costs.
One option is budget billing, which spreads the higher heating costs of winter over the rest of the year, she said.
Another program is an inspection by an energy expert who lists suggestions on how to make a home more energy efficient, Reuters said.
If such programs don’t help and customers find themselves unable to pay their bill, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program may be an option, said Danyel DeLanoit of Upper Des Moines Opportunity Inc.
The program helps low-income customers pay a portion of their heating bill. Assistance is based on income, household size, type of fuel and type of housing.
New US hurricane threat sends energy prices soaring By Carola Hoyos in Vienna and Kevin Morrison in London Published: September 19 2005 17:58 | Last updated: September 19 2005 17:58
The threat of a new hurricane heading towards the Gulf of Mexico repeating the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina sent oil, petrol and gas prices soaring on Monday and overshadowed the ministerial meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Predictions that tropical storm Rita, gathering strength and expected to turn into a hurricane, might reach the Texas coast within the next week sent oil traders into panic mode: US and European benchmark crude oil prices rose by more than $3, and US natural gas prices hit new record highs.
“Rita has pushed Opec into the background, because there is great fear that we could be facing another severe supply disruption in the US,” said Rob Laughlin, an oil trader with Man Financial in London.
Opec ministers said they were likely to finalise a decision Tto offer the market more oil when it needed it.
Kuwait’s oil minister and Opec president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah, insisted the group had 2m barrels a day of extra oil that it would immediately supply to the market if needed.
But traders, who see the extra volume at closer to 1.4m b/d that could take some time to get to the market, said this would do little to lower prices because Opec did not have the light, sweet oil that the market needed to make petrol.
Nevertheless, Opec hopes that its decision will reduce some of the criticism it faces from industrialised countries, which blame the current high oil price on the cartel.
In fact, the biggest impact Opec could hope to make is in the long term.
The International Monetary Fund this week will blame Opec and oil companies for not investing in new oil capacity quickly enough. Both have already begun to invest more thanks to high oil prices, but those efforts will only yield results in a few years when the projects come to fruition and can do little to reduce the current relatively high prices.
The US benchmark, WTI gained $3.30 to $66.30 a barrel in late morning New York trade. In London, IPE November Brent climbed more than $3 to $64.86. Indeed Opec has had little impact on the prices, since its spare oil capacity has shrunk as demand from the US and China outpaced the world’s ability to keep up by exploring for and producing new oil.
The Centre for Global Energy Studies, the London-based consulting group, said in a report released yesterday: “Although oil demand growth slowed dramatically since the second quarter of 2004, it continues to outstrip the pace of non-Opec supply growth and Opec’s capacity additions, as well as global increases in refining capacity, particularly to turn heavy, sour crudes into light sweet products that are most sought after.”
The International Energy Agency, the industrialised countries’ watchdog agency, estimates that oil demand growth fell from 5.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2004 to 1.2 per cent in the third quarter of this year.
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