Natural Gas Prices to Rise in 2007
Consumers should enjoy stable gas bills while they last this winter because the next heating season already looks likely to be costlier, market analysts say.
Canada's energy industry is expected to put upward pressure on natural gas prices across North America in 2007 by producing less, consuming more and reducing exports to the United States.
Wholesale gas is hovering around $7 per gigajoule. The current price range is less than half the $15-plus peak hit last heating season after hurricanes made markets spike across the continent by damaging production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Economic forces are forecast to put upward pressure on prices even if the 2007 hurricane season turns out to be a dud like it was in 2006.
Canadian supplies on international markets will shrink noticeably by the second half of this year, predict industry analysts at Alberta investment houses Peters & Co. and FirstEnergy Capital Corp.
Canadian exports, a mainstay of U.S. gas supply, satisfy about 15 per cent of American demand; however, they are forecast to take the worst dive in a generation, dropping by up to one billion cubic feet per day.
Drilling is also tapering off compared with last winter.
Canada's energy industry is expected to put upward pressure on natural gas prices across North America in 2007 by producing less, consuming more and reducing exports to the United States.
Wholesale gas is hovering around $7 per gigajoule. The current price range is less than half the $15-plus peak hit last heating season after hurricanes made markets spike across the continent by damaging production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Economic forces are forecast to put upward pressure on prices even if the 2007 hurricane season turns out to be a dud like it was in 2006.
Canadian supplies on international markets will shrink noticeably by the second half of this year, predict industry analysts at Alberta investment houses Peters & Co. and FirstEnergy Capital Corp.
Canadian exports, a mainstay of U.S. gas supply, satisfy about 15 per cent of American demand; however, they are forecast to take the worst dive in a generation, dropping by up to one billion cubic feet per day.
Drilling is also tapering off compared with last winter.
posted by Ottawa Gas Prices | 5:13 AM
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