Record price ratio 'won't last'

NEW YORK: Crude oil has become so expensive compared with natural gas that the record price ratio between them probably won't last, analysts say.

The chart accompanying this story shows the prices of these commodities since 1990, when natural-gas futures started trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, in the top panel.

The ratio between them, which closed at a record 26.4-to-1 last week, appears in the bottom panel.