Customers on the city of Vicksburg’s natural gas system could learn by late June whether they will be seeing a drop in their gas bills.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Friday approved a one-year contract with ConocoPhillips Co. of Houston, Texas, to provide the city’s natural gas, but will not buy any gas under the new agreement until August.

Mayor Paul Winfield said the board will meet with Howard Randolph, president of Utility Management Corp. of Flowood, the city’s natural gas consultant, in the next two weeks to discuss gas prices and the gas system’s operating costs before deciding whether to reduce the rates.

Randolph said the ConocoPhillips contract was the first step in the gas buying process.

“Before you can buy the gas, you have to have a base contract with a supplier that says they will provide gas to the city,” Randolph said. “You want to buy your first supply of gas at the lowest possible market price so you can lock that price in when you need the gas. That locked-in price is the city’s hedge, or insurance, against prices increasing before you need it.”