AUSTIN – Nov. 23, 2010 – Declining natural gas prices could mean that Texas Gas Service customers will enjoy some of the lowest winter bills in recent years, the company said today.
Beginning today, the cost of natural gas, measured in one hundred cubic feet (ccf), reflected on Texas Gas Service natural gas bills will be $ 0.4764, compared with $ 0.4983 last month and $ 0.5738 one year ago, which includes transportation and storage costs. In fact, the cost of gas has not been this low since November 2002.
The company estimates that a typical Austin residential customer could expect to pay approximately 11 percent less this heating season than the previous one (based on the use of approximately 266 ccf from November through March). In dollar terms, that equates to a savings of $ 27.20 this heating season. The estimate presumes normal weather conditions.
"By actively managing our costs, bidding our natural gas supplies and capturing market savings, we are able to pass along these savings to our customers," said Greg Phillips, Texas Gas Service president.
Texas Gas Service purchases natural gas supplies for its customers through a competitive-bidding process. The natural gas is sold to the company's customers at its average purchase cost with no markup. Delivery fees, which are regulated by Texas cities and the Railroad Commission, are added to customers' bills.
Texas Gas Service's supply of natural gas is purchased primarily from Texas-based marketers and producers. It includes natural gas previously purchased and injected into storage, gas acquired through fixed-price contracts and gas purchased through contracts based on market-price indices.
Texas Gas Service provides natural gas service to more than 600,000 customers in the state of Texas. 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 websites at www.texasgasservice.com or www.oneok.com.
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