The Hotline Newsletter

Summer 2004

Message From The President - High Gas prices..."Get used to it!"

That's what an energy analyst said at a recent gathering I attended on the subject of today's high natural gas prices.

As a manufacturer of natural gas space heaters and as a private investor in gas exploration (hopefully more new wells), I read and listen to everything I can get my hands on regarding the future of natural gas. The general consensus is that expensive gas is here to stay. Fortunately, the big spikes (highs and lows) have settled down a bit and most wellhead prices have remained steady. Even so, today's costs are about 10% above last year's high prices and more than double what they were a just a few years ago.

Natural gas prices will probably only get worse in the foreseeable future. This is due to rising productivity in the manufacturing sector and increased usage of gas for generating electricity. Another factor is a relatively small increase of new wells as exploration only slightly exceeds the number of depleted wells. However there is some good news and help is on the way. Consistent high prices at the wellhead will encourage more drilling. Added to this, consistent high prices have made LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) a viable alternative to local wells. Though these are longer-range solutions, there is reason to believe that today's high costs may increase in the short run, but eventually will stabilize.

But "get used to it"? That's like getting used to a headache. Let Cambridge relieve some of the pain. An energy efficient Cambridge heating system can dramatically reduce gas consumption and we can prove it. If you're worried about accountability of the capital expense to install new energy efficient equipment, talk to us. We have solutions that will help you "do something about it."