critique of "With Oil Prices Increasing, is it Time to Switch to Natural Gas?"

The original article is very well written and informative. The energy crisis and the need for the world as a whole to work together to discover new forms of energy is very high. There have been many discoveries, but the implementation of these new techniques has been limited due to many reasons. The author mentions that there has been a shift in the way that homes are heated in the northeast, and that this shift has been to switch from heating oil to natural gas. The author mentions the high cost of converting your home’s heating machinery to natural gas. I agree with all of the author’s commentary in this area but I would like to mention a few additional points. The reason for the shift between oil and natural gas could also be due to the fact that older homes are being demolished and newly constructed homes are being fitted with natural gas systems. This would cause the statistics over time to reflect some type of shift that may have been caused by nothing other than the cycle of home construction. Also, in homes that were originally fitted with oil systems, homeowners may opt for more efficient and modern natural gas systems when their oil fueled heating systems malfunction. Also, it is relatively easy to have a natural gas pipeline installed to your house, giving you a constant supply. In most cases, oil fuel must be trucked in to the home site, which can lead to many various inconveniences. To summarize, there are many reasons and situations why a shift may occur other than fuel supply pricing.

I agree with the author’s commentary on the newly discovered supply of natural gas, this makes sense with the fundamental law of economics, supply and demand. The supply increase leads to lower prices for consumers, but I would say that this is only a short-term effect. As the demand shift more and more to natural gas because of low prices, the supply will be strained and then the price will be increased. The current time is the best time to consume natural gas, but in the near future it will no longer be the best choice. Although there are large supplies of natural gas, it is still a nonrenewable resource, which will eventually run out.

The author made a very good point in the discussion of the companies controlling the oil and natural gas markets. The fact that the OPEC group engages in price-fixing is a large disadvantage to the oil consumer. The fact that natural gas is something that the US can primarily source in-country is of great advantage since price-fixing is legally prohibited in the United States.