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To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (1836)	10/11/2002 12:15:04 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5140

Natural-gas prices stay high > Winter spike seen as possible, despite inventories By Chip Cummins THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Oct. 11 — Despite abundant inventories, natural-gas prices have remained stubbornly high, prompting utilities to brace for possible price spikes as the winter heating season begins. NIAGARA MOHAWK, a Syracuse, N.Y., utility, warned customers Thursday to expect natural-gas bills as much as 25% higher than last winter. Such a spike would be less severe if winter temperatures are mild, like they were last year. No matter what winter weather brings, however, “we think the commodity price itself will go up,” perhaps by as much as 5% to 10%, said Joseph T. Ash, vice president of gas delivery at Niagara Mohawk, a unit of British energy giant National Grid Group PLC. Similar fears of price spikes have fizzled in the past amid mild temperatures and robust inventories. And despite forecasts of an economic recovery right around the corner, a pickup in demand from industrial users hasn’t materialized. But gas producers have cut drilling back sharply over the past year, and some forecasters are warning that a cold snap or some other sudden spike in demand could send prices spiraling higher in coming months. Still, no one is predicting the sort of supply crunch that contributed to all-time high natural-gas prices in the winter of 2000-2001. At the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday, contracts for gas delivery next month finished down nine cents at $3.83 per million BTUs, up from about $2.50 per million BTUs this time last year. Copyright © 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. msnbc.com