Consumers face chill from winter heating bills

Heating oil, natural gas prices jump months before cold weather sets in

Already reeling from a surge in prices at the gas pump, American consumers are also confronting sharply higher winter heating bills.

At a time when the energy industry is typically busy building stockpiles for winter, Hurricane Katrina knocked out roughly 10 percent of U.S. oil refining and natural gas pipeline capacity. About half that damaged infrastructure will take at least a month to restore, according to the industry
As the summer driving season winds down, with winter still months away, home heating costs are already running sharply higher than a year ago. And with some forecasters calling for a colder than normal start for winter, tight supplies could send prices higher still.