oil prices

[Jatinder]

Despite the approach of winter, oil prices to industrial customers are exceptionally low this year and likely to remain so. Therefore, unless the winter is especially severe, the price of natural gas to industrial customers is also likely to remain low.
Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the conclusion above?
(A) Long-term weather forecasts predict a mild winter.
(B) The industrial users who consume most natural gas can quickly and cheaply switch to using oil instead.
(C) The largest sources of supply for both oil and natural gas are in subtropical regions unlikely to be affected by winter weather.
(D) The fuel requirements of industrial users of natural gas are not seriously affected by the weather.
(E) Oil distribution is more likely to be affected by severe winter weather than is the distribution of natural gas

OA......to follow....

(Edited)
OOPs!! ..by mistake posted the thread in the wrong section:
Please ignore this thread and follow this one for the same question:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/oil-prices-t23287.html#98137

[Carloblacksun]

To me it's B, since it's the only answer that properly inform about the relatively easy possibility for the industrial customers to switch between two "products"...it the "products" are relatively interchangeable, then the low price of one affects the other's price.

Moreover, the point about "unless the winter is severe" eliminates a possible question regarding whether other factors might affect the prices of both "products"...

Therefore B.

[iamcste]

Despite the approach of winter, oil prices to industrial customers are exceptionally low this year and likely to remain so. Therefore, unless the winter is especially severe, the price of natural gas to industrial customers is also likely to remain low.
Which of the following, if true, provides the most support for the conclusion above?
(A) Long-term weather forecasts predict a mild winter.
(B) The industrial users who consume most natural gas can quickly and cheaply switch to using oil instead.
(C) The largest sources of supply for both oil and natural gas are in subtropical regions unlikely to be affected by winter weather.
(D) The fuel requirements of industrial users of natural gas are not seriously affected by the weather.
(E) Oil distribution is more likely to be affected by severe winter weather than is the distribution of natural gas

OA......to follow....

should move this post to Critical reasoning

[rohangupta83]

imo B

and here is why

Oil prices are low

people can switch from NG to Oil cheaply if prices of NG high. If this happens then the demand for NG will fall causing a drop in prices. Otherwise prices will remain low anyway.

The passage also hints that oil prices typically rise as winter approaches but no such impact on NG.

The passage also hints that Oil prices during severe winter are high. Prices of NG could also be high in severe winter as people would switch from Oil to NG, causing rise in demand for NG which in turn would raise prices for NG.

Anyway - the third reasoning is not explicitly stated but could be inferred if we assume that converting from Oil to NG is cheap.