KeySpan, Oil Stocks Are High, But Cold Winter Seen for Area
BROOKLYN — In the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, what can Brooklyn oil and gas customers expect to pay to heat their homes this winter?
The answer from oil and gas experts is — it depends.
The cost to the consumers of both oil and natural gas has gone up roughly 40 percent since last year, said John Maniscalco, executive vice president of the New York Oil Heaters Association. But future price escalation depends on a variety of factors, including the amount of infrastructure damage caused by Hurricane Rita and the severity of this winter’s weather.
The situation may not be as dire as it sounds, says Maniscalco. “If the weather is warm this winter, there’s more than enough product,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle Friday. The country’s stocks of crude oil are actually 14 percent higher than last year, he said.
Unfortunately, AccuWeather.com’s long-range forecasters predict that this winter will be an especially cold one for the northeastern U.S., with average temperatures of two to three degrees below normal. Heating oil consumption is therefore likely to be well above normal.
And if consumption increases, prices will also increase.
A consumer debating the best time to fill his oil tank for the winter is essentially “playing the market,” Maniscalco said. The cost of oil went up twenty cents last Thursday, and — after Rita appeared to be veering to the East — down seven cents Friday.
Ed Yutkowitz, a spokesperson for Brooklyn-based KeySpan, the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast, says that like oil, it is very difficult to anticipate the price of natural gas.
“There are lots of factors,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle Friday. “Basically, it’s supply and demand, but it also depends on the price of oil, and other factors.” Both Maniscalco and Yutkowitz agreed that oil and gas prices tend to “track” each other.
Most of the natural gas that KeySpan supplies to consumers in New York City, Long Island and the New England States comes from the Gulf States, Yutkowitz said, although some comes from Canada as well.
Like oil, the future price of natural gas depends on how much damage to infrastructure Hurricane Rita causes and winter temperatures, he said. Cautioning that it’s hard to predict the future, “We do monitor the long-range forecast,” Yutkowitz said. “If there’s tremendous demand, prices go up.”
Yutkowitz said that KeySpan customers were in better shape than gas customers in other areas of the U.S. “We have already purchased over 50 percent of our supplies for the winterand we have long-term contracts with our suppliers.”
The New York State Senate has passed a resolution asking the federal government to increase funding for the low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), based on anticipated higher costs for home heating fuel this winter. (For information on where to apply, call 1-800-342-3009.)
Conservation — Back in Style?
Regardless of the cost of oil and gas this winter, Maniscalco recommends that consumers try something that got Jimmy Carter into trouble in the ’70s — conservation.
“During the oil embargo, everybody went to small cars,” he said. “Think about it We have to change our driving patterns and conserve energy at home.”
Drafts are a major cause of energy waste, he said. “Go to the Home Depot or other hardware store and get weather stripping.” He also recommended turning out the lights when you leave the room and setting the thermostat at 68 instead of 72. “Put on a sweater — people don’t want to hear that!
“I hear it’s going to be a cold winter; people in my position hope it’s not, for everybody’s sake.”
Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2005
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