Senate Calls for Hearing into High Gas Prices

There appears to be one issue that Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill 
can agree on --- gas prices are too high. Chairman Frank H. Murkowski (R-AK) 
of the Senate Energy Committee and Ranking Minority Member Jeff Bingaman 
(D-NM) have called for an oversight hearing to look into rising natural gas 
prices. 

The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 12 in Senate Dirksen 366. 
Appearing before the committee will be representatives of the gas industry 
and the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. 

"Spot prices for natural gas on Dec. 6 hit $9.54/MMBtu. That compares to a 
price a year ago of about $2.16/Btu," said Murkowski. "We are concerned about 
both price and availability of supply as we move into the winter months."