Natural gas and diesel prices to fall this winter

Glass companies will get a break from high energy prices this winter. Both diesel fuel and natural gas prices will be lower than last winter, according to predictions from Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook that the Energy Information Administration released Oct. 11.

The “base case” for retail diesel prices will fall more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 to $2.62 from $2.93 in the third quarter, and down 3.3 percent from the $2.71 in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the report.

Natural gas prices are expected to average about $6.90 per thousand cubic feet for 2006, but will likely rise to $7.53 per thousand cubic feet in 2007, according to the report. The predicted averages for both 2006 and 2007, however, lag far behind the average price of $14 per thousand cubic feet shortly after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

“Natural gas prices this winter are expected to be significantly lower than last winter. Not only are there unlikely to be any hurricane-induced production losses, but the very high levels of natural gas in storage is expected to put downward pressure on natural gas prices this season,” EIA officials wrote in the report.

To read the report in full, click here.