Deregulation and natural gas trade relationships: lessons from the Alberta-California experience
In 1978 the US government moved to deregulate the American natural gas industry. The market changes that resulted from this initial step took time to ripple their way out to regional and subnational gas trading relationships. This ripple effect required subnational governments (state and provincial regulators) to rethink their gas regulatory policies. This article examines the restructuring of the Alberta-California gas trade. It explores how changes in US policy forced California and Alberta regulators to recast their policies. It concludes with several lessons that can be drawn from this case about the complex challenge of restructuring international gas trading relationships.
Alberta Gas in United States Markets: Canadian and American Perspectives on Competition, Constitutional and Contract Enforcement Issues
The authors discuss regulatory issues of particular importance and topicality. Included are considerations of the question of whether the pricing pool arrangements under the Alberta Natural Gas Marketing Act, as amended in 1991, may be challenged as violations of the Competition Act (Canada) or the Sherman Antitrust Act (United States) or the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States. The constitutional validity of the amended Alberta Natural Gas Marketing Act is reviewed. The effects of decisions of state regulatory tribunals on contracts for purchase and sale of natural gas are examined in the context of the United States Constitution.
The Influence of Technological Changes on the Cost of Gas Supply
This paper analyzes the cost of supplying natural gas to a virtual consumer in Central Europe from all presently conceivable sources. The sensitivity of the price of supplying the gas to changes in the cost of single components is also investigated.