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Greenspan sees high natural gas prices
through 2004
Burlington Free Press, June 11, 2003
By H. Josef Hebert
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- High natural gas prices are likely to last into next year, and
could weaken some key American industries' ability to compete, Federal Reserve
chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday.
Greenspan stopped short of suggesting that tight natural gas supplies, which
have caused prices to more than double from last year, might thwart economic
recovery.
Industries that heavily rely on natural gas hope prices will decline, but
Greenspan said market signals suggest tight supplies and high prices will
persist because -- unlike oil -- the
U.S.
gas market is unable to draw
on world supplies easily to meet surges in demand.
"The markets are telling us that $2 gas is a historic relic -- at least for
the time being," Greenspan told a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee. Natural gas at wholesale has surged to $6.25 per thousand cubic feet,
compared to an average of about $3 last year.
"We are not apt to return to earlier periods of relative abundance and low
prices anytime soon," Greenspan said, adding that market expectations
"imply a 25 percent probability" that the peak price natural gas on
the wholesale market could exceed $7.50 per thousand cubic feet by January, in
the middle of the winter heating season.
Greenspan said the increase in gas prices has "put significant segments of
the North American gas-using industry in a weakened competitive position"
against industries overseas.
"Unless this competitive weakness is addressed, new investment in these
technologies will flag," he continued. The fallout from the high energy
costs has been tempered because companies have made temporary adjustments,
hoping prices will again soon decline.
The Energy Department also has forecast that extremely short supplies of stored
natural gas will result in high prices through this year and into 2004. Gas
stocks in storage were 38 percent below what they were last year and 28 percent
lower than the five-year average.
"An abnormally hot summer followed by a cold winter could push natural gas
deliverability to the limit and cause record high prices," Guy Caruso, head
of the department's Energy Information Administration, told a congressional
hearing.
Greenspan said the supply and price problems stem from "a modest gap"
between growing demand for the fuel and supplies that are limited. "Rising
demand for natural gas, especially as a clean-burning source of electric power,
is pressing against a supply essentially restricted to North American
production."
He urged expansion of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, imports, so the U.S. market
can more easily use world gas supplies as "a safety valve" if North
American supplies become too tight.
There are only four LNG terminals in operation in the
United States
.
Greenspan acknowledged trade-offs when pursuing energy sources. "There is
no way to create energy without risk," he said.
In Vermont
The Vermont Public Service Board on Monday held a public hearing on Vermont Gas
System Inc.'s proposed rate increase request. The natural gas utility had a 5.7
percent rate decrease in October, but said it needed to raise prices for the
coming year because of rising wholesale prices:
WHO: Vermont Gas Systems
WHAT: Requesting a 10.6 percent rate increase
WHEN: Takes effect in October, if approved
CUSTOMERS: More than 35,000 customers in Chittenden and Franklin counties
BILL INCREASE: $8.25 per month for the average customer.
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