ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 20, 1993                   TAG: 9308200107
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short


NATURAL-GAS PRICES HIGHEST IN YEARS

Hot weather, the filling of winter storage and rules changes that make local gas utilities responsible for their own gas supplies are driving natural gas prices to their highest seasonal level in years.

While gas supplies appear adequate to meet winter demand, a very cold winter could create price spikes and supply disruptions, industry analysts said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, gas for September delivery closed at $2.39 for a million British thermal units, up sharply from the same day last year, when the September contract closed at $1.85 per million Btu. - Journal of Commerce



 by CNB