Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said today that high natural gas prices and shortages are already having an adverse impact on some industries and that he does not foresee a return to low prices or abundant supplies anytime soon.
"Today's tight natural gas markets have been a long time in coming and distant futures prices suggest that we are not apt to return to earlier periods of relative abundance and low prices anytime soon," Greenspan told a Senate hearing.
He said development of new drilling technologies have been unable to prevent the price of natural gas from rising.
Wholesale gas prices climbed to $6.58 per thousand feet last week, more than double what it had been last year. While declining somewhat, the price of gas for delivery in August was $5.51 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
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Greenspan, reiterating points he made last month in testimony at a House hearing, said the high prices are threatening some industries, such as chemical plants producing fertilizer.
