Washington (Platts)--9Jan2008

Sharply higher fuel oil prices pushed up daily natural gas deliveries to
US power plants capable of burning either fuel by an average of 31%--or
500,000 Mcf/d--in 2007 compared with 2006, analyst Bentek Energy said in a
report Wednesday.

Bentek added that 2007 gas consumption by dual-fuel power plants was 52%
above 2005 levels.

Natural gas prices have been at a discount to fuel oil for much of 2007,"
Bentek senior analyst Jack Weixel said in a statement. "This leaves natural
gas as the low-cost fuel alternative when compared to increasing petroleum
prices."

In its report, Golden, Colorado-based Bentek estimated total natural gas
burn at US power plants was up 2.1 Bcf/d in 2007, 13% above 2006. The 500,000
Mcf/d attributed to dual-fuel power plants accounted for nearly 25% of the
overall increase, the company added.

Bentek analyzed more than 460 US gas-fired power plants, of which 112 are
capable of burning both gas and fuel oil.

The dual-fuel facilities have a baseload capacity of about 94,000 MW, or
8% of total US generation.

Weixel said that while he does not know how much more gas deliveries to
dual-fuel power plants will rise in 2008, he does expect to see more use of
gas as long as "fuel oil continues to rise on the back of crude oil prices."