Natural gas pipelines after field price decontrol : a study of risk, return and regulation

This is a study of a regulated industry undergoing rapid change. For the first time in its history, following the partial decontrol of field prices in 1978, natural gas is being priced at a level which places it in direct competition with competing fuels, chiefly oil. This change is placing considerable stress on the established institutional relationships in the gas industry and is the source of what has been and will continue to be a protracted public policy debate on the subject. It is the chief purpose of this study to interpret the effect of this change on the gas pipeline segment of the industry and its regulation.