U.S. Department of Energy Uses Software Developed by University of Arkansas Statistician

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has recently started using a piece of software developed by Giovanni Petris, a University of Arkansas professor of statistics, to forecast natural gas prices.

The Energy Information Administration is the statistical and analytical agency within the Department of Energy. The Energy Information Administration collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. In particular, the Energy Information Administration produces regular forecasts of energy production, consumption, and prices.

The software package developed by Petris is already used by businesses and in universities worldwide to analyze and forecast time series of varied nature. To get Energy Information Administration researchers up to speed with the fine nuances involved in the use of the software, Petris has been invited to the agency to give a workshop on his package in May.