EPA move on sulfur dioxide affects NG prices
The agency said that the new standard, adopted under the Clean Air Act, would prevent 2,300 to 5,900 premature deaths and 54,000 asthma attacks a year.
Sulfur dioxide is a major element of exhaust from coal-burning power plants and a component of acid rain. It has been linked to many breathing problems, including asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. The new rule calls for concentrations of no more than 75 parts per billion of sulfur dioxide, measured hourly. The current standard is 140 parts per billion, averaged over 24 hours.
Some power plants have been using more natural gas, instead of coal, to run generators because gas burns cleaner, with lower emissions.
Natural gas futures rose 26.6 cents to close at $4.69 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange recently.
Natural gas producers were among the biggest gainers in an otherwise lackluster trading day.
Fort Worth-based Quicksilver Resources and Range Resources both saw their shares jump more than 6 percent, as did Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy. Union Drilling of Fort Worth, which is active in shale gas development, saw its shares rise more than 4 percent.
Related News

Power outage update: 252,596 remain without electricity Wednesday
EASTERN CAROLINA - Power is slowly being restored to Eastern Carolina residents after Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wilmington on Friday, September 15.
On Monday, more than half a million people remained without power across the state.
As of Wednesday morning at 1am, the Dept. of Public Safety reports 252,596 total power outages in North Carolina.
More than half of those customers are in Eastern Carolina.
More than 32,000 customers are without power in Carteret County and roughly 21,000 are without power in Onslow County.
In Craven County, roughly 15,000 people remain without power Wednesday morning.
Many of the state's outages are effecting the Wilmington area,…