The United States has the world's largest natural gas market. Fifteen years of deregulation have delivered significant gains to consumers in the form of lower prices and more services. The experience shows that liberalizing wholesale gas prices and the bulk supply of natural gas frees market...

Countries in Asia, Europe, and North and South America are introducing reforms to boost efficiency and attract new private investment in their natural gas industries. The trend has been to unbundle along vertical and horizontal lines and to open wholesale gas markets to new entrants. These new...

The deregulation of the U.K. natural gas industry has facilitated new entry and competition in almost all segments of the industry except pipeline transportation. The new regulatory framework, developed largely by the Office of Gas Regulation (Ofgas), has allowed market forces to stimulate a...

The author shows how, in the United Kingdom, government and industry participants have responded to challenges created by opening the natural gas industry to competition. He concludes that, as a result of cooperation between the government and industry participants, appropriate mechanisms can be...

Deregulation of the U.S. natural gas industry has been under way since the late 1970s. The industry was deregulated to create competitive markets in natural gas and its pipeline transportation, in the expectation that competition would guide transactions toward a more efficient outcome. The...

As countries have deregulated prices and lowered entry barriers in the natural gas industry, many new participants have emerged, promoting competition in the newly created markets. The increased competition has benefited everyone through more efficient pricing and greater choice among natural...