Of GAS & hot air.

[herosrest]

Hey there, do you remember what your domestic gas bill was like in 2002, vaguely remember?.......

Natural-gas futures tumbled below the $3-level on Thursday to end at a seven-year low after the government reported another rise in supplies.

In other energy trading, oil futures ended marginally higher, as mixed U.S. economic data and the expiration of the front-month contract contributed to intraday volatility.

Natural gas for September delivery dropped 17.40 cents, or 5.6%, to end at $2.945 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That is the lowest closing level for a front-month contract since Aug. 14, 2002, when futures settled at $2.910 per million British thermal units, according to historical data from the CME Group.

The contract earlier fell to an intraday low of $2.930 per million British thermal units in electronic trading on Globex.

"Barring a storm hurting supplies, I think natural gas is due for a short-term sell-off," said Zachary Oxman, managing director of TrendMax Futures.

"As we round into fall and then to winter, I'd look for prices to move back up," Oxman said. "Big jumps up, though, really depend on the severity of this winter."


Of course there are a thousand legitimate business reasons to justify charges that bear no reality to reality. Lock 'em up.