The sole energy value (for now): Natural gas

Want to hear about one bright spot on the energy horizon? It's natural gas, for now, at least.

While oil's price has soared in 2007, natural gas' price has actually declined -- you heard that right, declined -- in 2007, from $8.90 / million btu on Dec. 31 2006 to $7.93 / million btu as of Nov. 12, 2007.

In fact, on a per energy unit basis - - or how much energy one can buy for a $1 - - natural gas is about half the price of oil. That's good news for utilities that operate natural gas-fired electric generation plants and homeowners who heat by gas. The situation represents an energy-sector turnabout, of sorts: in 2005, scarce gas supplies and a cold winter caused natural gas prices to spike well above the energy-equivalent price for oil. Homeowners who heated by gas - - most of whom could not switch quickly to another energy form - - were hit especially hard that year.

What's driving the oil/natural gas energy split? Independent Energy Trader Jim Dietz told BloggingsStocks that natural gas' lack of portability is a big factor. Unlike oil, natural gas isn't transported from hemisphere-to-hemisphere the way oil is: i..e. oil can go wherever the global market says the price is highest, Dietz said. Natural gas is consumed regionally. Hence, when regional demand is high, "that leads to quicker price rises for natural gas, but also when demand drops, quicker price reductions," he said. The latter is the case now, he said.

Dietz cautions that a hot summer in the U.S. could quickly reverse the current trend, so homeowners "should not consider natural gas the permanent energy winner, when deciding to heat by natural gas or oil, if they have the choice." "Solar, wind, the home's efficiency rating, and the availability of an energy form in your area of the country" should also be considered, Dietz added.