Oklahoma is likely to be the state with the highest heating bills this winter as natural gas prices climb across the globe.
According to a survey by MoneyGeek, cited by The Hill, Oklahomans will have to pay an average of $301 per month for natural gas, Alaskans will face an average monthly bill of $289, and Georgians will have to pay an average of $280 for gas.
Last year, a snowstorm in Oklahoma sparked an energy crisis that drove the state to buy natural gas at nearly 600 times the normal price, driving up energy bills across the state. Now, according to a MoneyGeek analyst, those high energy bills "plus a projected 15% increase in price this winter is sort of a perfect storm for Oklahoma, leading them to have the highest monthly bill".
The states that will see the lowest gas prices this winter will be Hawaii, Maine, and Florida, although it won't be a cheap winter in Maine and the rest of the Northeast with the current prices for heating oil, which is widely used in the region.
Gas prices in the U.S. are higher because of the European energy crisis that has seen U.S. gas exports surge to record highs. And with so much gas going to Europe, it was only a matter of time before prices at home rose, too.
"If the price they can get in Europe is a lot more than what they can sell their natural gas for in the U.S., then some of that is going to be exported to Europe, and that is going to raise the price of things in the United States," an Atlantic Council oil and gas expert told NPR.
The Energy Information Administration has estimated that the heating bills of households in the U.S. that use natural gas will go up by 28% this winter. About 50% of American households use natural gas for heating.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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