Say Anything Blog

Hmm...

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers from the Northeast praised the Bush administration's decision Thursday to release $100 million in emergency home heating aid, though some said the money won't be enough to help families pay steep energy bills this winter.

"I'm delighted that the administration recognized people need some help," said Sen. Jack Reed (news, bio, voting record), D-R.I., who has spearheaded the fight for additional energy assistance. "But I don't think it is sufficient."

Meanwhile...

JAN. 5 3:14 P.M. ET Natural gas futures fell to a four-month low on Thursday, beaten down for the third consecutive day because of a mild start to winter in the U.S. that has eased traders' concerns about supplies.

The Energy Department reinforced those feelings on Thursday with a report that showed a surprising increase in natural gas inventories last week. . . .

In its weekly natural gas report, the Energy Department said underground storage of natural gas in the lower 48 states totaled 2.64 trillion cubic feet last week, an increase of 1 billion cubic feet from the prior week that left inventories 3 percent below year ago levels. Analysts had been expecting a small decline in inventories.

"It's very unusual to see a build during the last week in December," said Man Financial broker Andrew Lebow, who said the nation's supply of both natural gas and heating oil appeared adequate, assuming normal weather patterns.

February natural gas futures slid 69.7 cents to $9.50 per 1,000 cubic feet in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, putting the front-month contract 40 percent below its peak of $15.78 on Dec. 13.

Natural gas futures are also below their levels immediately prior to Hurricane Katrina, which knocked out platforms, pipelines and processing plants and sent prices soaring.

Anyone else thinking these politicians may have overreacted a bit to Katrina's impact on the natural gas market?

I wonder if President Bush can call that $100 million back in. I can't speak for other states, but North Dakota is already getting plenty of money for heating aid. Last year qualifying ND families received approximately $933 each in heating assistance.

Like I've said before, that's not assistance that's paying for it.