 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Natural Gas Prices |
| Download the Gas Price excel file here. (Includes Daily and Monthly Opal spot Prices, Henry Hub sport prices, consumer prices, and Monthly National Wellhead Prices.) |
 | |  | |  | |  |
| Natural gas prices are measured on several points along the supply chain. The wellhead price is the price of natural gas less transportation. Wellhead prices are highly volatile given the uncertainties that affect day to day production, such as weather. Natural gas hubs and market centers are corollaries of market restructuring and federal mandates which occurred in the early 1990s. FERC Oder 636 required pipeline transportation companies to separate sales and transportation services in an effort to engender greater competition among natural gas sellers. There are 37 of these market centers across the US. The Opal Hub (located in southeastern Wyoming) is the principle market center for the Jonah and Anticline fields and services approximately 20 customers. Henry Hub, located in Erath, Louisiana, is the primary pricing point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the NYMEX. Henry Hub interconnects nine interstate and four intrastate pipelines. Spot prices have historically been lower at the Opal Hub (located in southcentral Wyoming) when compared to the Henry Hub. This phenomenon has been attributed by some to the limited pipeline capacity at the Opal hub, causing producers to undercut their prices in an effort to compete for the limited pipeline space. The addition of greater pipeline capacity, through projects such as the Rockies Express, is thought to ameliorate this problem. Finally, natural gas is delivered to the consumer. The Consumer Price has steadily increased over the past 8 years, predictably slumping during the fall and early winter. However, during the summer of 2008 natural gas prices spiked, fueled in part by speculation. With the global economic recession, these prices have since fallen back to 2007 levels. |
| Click on Graphs to Enlarge |
| Graph: Opal Hub Avg. Monthly Spot Price 4/00 -- 12/08 |
| Graph: Avg. Monthly Residential Price 01/01/00-12/31/08 |
| Graph: Avg. Monthly Spot Price For Opal and Henry Hubs Count 4/00 -- 12/08 |
| Graph: Avg. Monthly Spot Price for National Wellhead and Opal Hub 04/00-12/08 |
