admin
06-22-2003, 08:20 PM
One of the critical roles played by a central government is to provide its citizens with accurate information which would allow them to maximize their well-being through informed choices.
The Department of Energy failed to meet this standard, the press reports:
"The Energy Department said Friday it overlooked a change in natural gas inventory statistics reported to it by Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., triggering the biggest swing in natural gas prices in three months.
After discovering the omission, the department waited a week to inform energy companies, traders, other government agencies and the public because of a policy of releasing gas supply data only on Thursday mornings, said Bill Trapmann, the senior gas analyst whose team compiles the information.
The department, which keeps inventory data locked in a safe to prevent leaks, disclosed the reclassification Thursday. The change signaled that utilities haven't been adding gas to storage as quickly as was suggested previously, sparking a rally.
"Anybody who was short ... got run over," said Dave Breish, a gas trader at Select Energy New York in Syracuse. "An adjustment out of the blue like that has a definite impact. Somebody missed it? There's no need for that."
July gas futures plunged 9.8 percent"....
Read complete press story
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/1961830
The Department of Energy failed to meet this standard, the press reports:
"The Energy Department said Friday it overlooked a change in natural gas inventory statistics reported to it by Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., triggering the biggest swing in natural gas prices in three months.
After discovering the omission, the department waited a week to inform energy companies, traders, other government agencies and the public because of a policy of releasing gas supply data only on Thursday mornings, said Bill Trapmann, the senior gas analyst whose team compiles the information.
The department, which keeps inventory data locked in a safe to prevent leaks, disclosed the reclassification Thursday. The change signaled that utilities haven't been adding gas to storage as quickly as was suggested previously, sparking a rally.
"Anybody who was short ... got run over," said Dave Breish, a gas trader at Select Energy New York in Syracuse. "An adjustment out of the blue like that has a definite impact. Somebody missed it? There's no need for that."
July gas futures plunged 9.8 percent"....
Read complete press story
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/1961830