Natural Gas Prices Decline

By JACOB GEIGER

By Jacob Geiger

The Virginian-Pilot

Virginia Natural Gas announced a rate decrease Friday after a sharp drop in natural gas prices during July. The company normally adjusts its rates quarterly, but this was the second change in as many months.

For customers, 100 cubic feet of gas, known as a therm , will now cost $1.40. That’s down from $1.65 in July but still up from $1.01 in January.

The typical residential customer uses between 10 and 15 therms each month during the summer. The price of fuel accounts for 70 percent of a customer’s bill.

In early July, when Virginia Natural Gas announced a major rate increase, the company was having to pay more than $13 per million British thermal units to obtain natural gas. The price has spiraled downward in the past month, closing at $9.39 per million Btu on Friday . The drop in natural gas prices during July on the New York Mercantile Exchange was the largest monthly decline in more than three years.

Company spokesman Jack Holt said the market’s volatility may make this rate decrease a temporary one.

"I don’t want to get too excited, because the market is still fluctuating," Holt said.

Jacob Geiger, (757) 446-2643, jacob.geiger@pilotonline.com

feeling the heat

In January, customers of Virginia Natural Gas paid $1.01 for 100 cubic feet of gas.

By July, the price had increased to $1.65.

On Friday, Virginia Natural Gas decreased its rate to $1.40.

Originally published by BY JACOB GEIGER.

(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.