Natural-Gas Prices Hit 10-Year High

Winter is here--and so are higher energy prices.

In the energy markets Tuesday, prices continued to rise and natural-gas prices soared to a record as a band of cold weather moved across the North-Central U.S. toward the East Coast and boosted demand for heating fuel.

Natural gas for December delivery rose 24.2 cents, or 4.4%, to $5.698 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price for a most-active contract in 10 years of trading on the Nymex. In after-hours electronic trading, the contract rose as high as $6 per million BTUs, eclipsing the previous intraday record of $5.78 set Oct. 13. Prices have more than doubled in the last year.

Crude oil for December delivery rose 45 cents to $34.47 a barrel on the Nymex, a one-month high, and crude-oil prices are up 38% in the last year.

The increases touched off a rally in energy stocks on Wall Street, where the Amex natural gas index rose almost 2%. Natural gas driller Anadarko Petroleum (ticker symbol: APC) was up $2.66 to $61.11, and pipeline company Kinder Morgan (KMI) rose $1.31 to $39.88.