Jul 26, 2000 - 05:13 PM

Natural Gas Prices Ignite on Low Storage Numbers By Dave Carpenter The Associated Press

Natural gas prices zoomed upward Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange after new industry figures renewed concerns about tight market supplies. Gasoline futures also increased sharply on worries about production at a big New Jersey refinery.

In other markets, coffee rose and pork bellies fell.

Natural gas had rocketed higher earlier this year based on dwindling supplies and the anticipation of heavy use of air-conditioners this summer. But prices drifted lower as summer proceeded and temperatures were cooler than last year, when July was the hottest month ever recorded.

That trend was at least temporarily reversed Wednesday when the American Gas Association reported lower-than-expected injections for last week of 54 billion cubic feet at a time when storage supplies still need to be replenished for the high-use winter heating season ahead.

The numbers left injection totals down 423 billion cubic feet from a year ago - the smallest deficit since late May, but still huge.

"We're not quite as short of inventory as we feared we might be. However, we're still very far behind," said Tim Evans, senior energy analyst for IFR Pegasus in New York.

"We're going to have to work hard in order to catch up with where we were last year and really get ourselves set for winter."

Natural gas for August delivery rose 10.3 cents to $3.763 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, jumped on concerns that a problematic Tosco Corp. refinery in Linden, N.J., may be suffering further troubles. The 144,000-barrel-a-day unit returned to service Tuesday but traders said they suspected its problems might not be over.

August unleaded gasoline rose 2.15 cents to 89.25 cents a gallon after touching a peak of 91.80 cents a gallon.

September crude oil fell 14 cents to $27.81 a barrel and August heating oil rose .29 cent to 75.85 cents a gallon.

In London, September Brent crude from the North Sea fell 11 cents to $26.83 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGIHPOBH5BC.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 26, 2000