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Melville, N.Y.-Area Heating Oil, Gas Prices Rise Two Cents

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 00:00 CST

By Tom Incantalupo, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Jan. 12--Heating oil jumped by almost two cents a gallon on Long Island since last week, despite above-average temperatures, a new state survey shows. Gasoline rose by an equal amount just overnight from Tuesday to yesterday in the AAA's daily survey.

The U.S. Department of Energy yesterday reported higher-than-expected supplies of heating oil and gasoline, suggesting a coming moderation in prices, although crude oil futures rose yesterday on concerns about disruptions in supplies from the Middle East. Those concerns result from Iran's decision to resume work on its nuclear facilities.

The state Energy Research and Development Authority said heating oil averaged $2.683 a gallon on Long Island as of Monday, up 1.8 cents from a week earlier and 50 cents a gallon above a year earlier.

Sarah Emerson, managing director of Energy Security Analysis Inc., a consulting firm in Wakefield, Mass., said the uptick in the retail price was a delayed reaction to earlier wholesale price increases. More recent declines in wholesale heating oil prices, she said, combined with warm weather in the Northeast have reduced the need for heating fuels and bode well for a decline soon in retail heating oil prices. "It's hard to imagine on a pure supply-and-demand basis that they won't come down a little bit," she said.

Regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.591 in Nassau and Suffolk yesterday, the AAA said, an increase of 1.9 cents from Tuesday and almost 23 cents from a month earlier. The average is 62 cents a gallon above a year earlier.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said gas prices probably will increase in the next few weeks, then stabilize late this month or early next month.

KeySpan Energy, the Island's major natural gas supplier, says its Long Island customers are paying 24 percent to 28 percent more now than a year ago. KeySpan says it is still forecasting bills that will be 30 percent to 40 percent higher for the season than a year earlier.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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KSE,

Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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