OKLAHOMA CITY – Nov. 5, 2010 – Declining natural gas prices could mean that Oklahoma Natural Gas Company customers will enjoy some of the lowest winter bills in recent years, the company said today.
Beginning this week, the per-dekatherm cost of gas reflected on Oklahoma Natural bills is $4.982, compared with $6.327 last month and $7.126 one year ago. In fact, the cost of gas has not been this low since November 2002.
The company estimates that a typical residential customer could expect to pay approximately 37 percent less this heating season than the previous one (based on the use of approximately 54 dekatherms from November through March). In dollar terms, that equates to a savings of $141.67. The estimate presumes normal weather conditions.
"By actively managing our costs, bidding our natural gas supplies and capturing market savings, we continue to provide our customers with some of the lowest energy costs in the country," said Roger Mitchell, Oklahoma Natural Gas Company president. "In fact, if weather conditions are normal this winter, our customers should expect to pay less this year for their natural gas service than in any time in the past seven years."
Oklahoma Natural Gas purchases natural gas supplies for its customers through a competitive bidding process. The gas is sold to the company's customers at its average cost of acquisition with no markup. Oklahoma Natural earns a return through charges for the services it provides, including delivering the gas to homes and businesses through its extensive distribution system that includes approximately 18,000 miles of pipelines.
Oklahoma Natural Gas Company's supply of natural gas is purchased primarily from Oklahoma-based marketers and producers. It includes natural gas previously purchased and injected into storage, natural gas acquired through fixed-price contracts and natural gas purchased through contracts based on market-price indices.
Oklahoma Natural Gas provides natural gas service to more than 800,000 customers in the state of Oklahoma. It is a division of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a diversified energy company. ONEOK is the general partner and owns 42.8 percent of ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS), one of the largest publicly traded limited partnerships, which is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. ONEOK is among the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, serving more than 2 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Its energy services operation focuses primarily on marketing natural gas and related services throughout the U.S. ONEOK is a Fortune 500 company and is included in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Stock Index.
For more information, visit the Web sites at www.oklahomanaturalgas.com or www.oneok.com. ONG-R
###