Sunday, November 11, 2007

Retail Natural Gas Customers - Prices Neutral

As oil prices surged over the last few months, natural gas prices in the United States did something that could help to cushion the economic shock. They fell.

A result is that those who heat their homes with natural gas — by far the dominant fuel in the United States — will see prices roughly in line with last winter’s. But for those who use heating oil, as many do in the Northeast, prices seem likely to be about 50 percent higher than they were last winter.

Oil and gas prices have never moved in lock step, in part because each has different users. But the bigger reason is that one is part of a global market and the other is not.

No comments: