Dire Heating Oil Predictions Boston Thursday, October 19, 2000 - 11:43 AM ET (WBZ) A tight supply of home heating oil in the Northeast could mean skyrocketing prices and trouble for the U.S. economy, analysts said Wednesday.

With new Energy Department figures showing heating oil reserves at a fraction of what they were a year ago, experts predict an increase in prices as the winter turns colder.

"Supply is tight. Demand picks up," said Larry Chretien, the executive director of the Massachusetts Energy Consumer Alliance. "We're going to see prices rise. They're already $1.51, corresponding to about a dollar last year--50 percent higher--and it's mid-October."

The federal government reported New England wholesalers have 3.1 million barrels of heating oil on hand, compared to 14 million one year ago.

"It may act as a natural drag on the U.S. economy, clearly," said analyst Art Hogan. "Psychologically, when people are paying more at the pump, they're buying one less thing at the Gap and at J.C. Penney, and clearly that causes consumer spending to slow down."

The longer the problem goes on, he said, the worse it is for the U.S. economy.

http://www.wbz.com/now/story/0,1597,242519-364,00.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 19, 2000

Answers

Yes, two plus two always did equal four.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), October 20, 2000.