In 1989 Congress enacted the Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act, which phased out natural gas price controls. Today, natural gas is a commodity that is bought and sold in a competitive market where prices reflect supply and demand relationships. The natural gas supply industry is highly competitive with many participants. There are thousands of natural gas producers. Most of the remaining natural gas supplies are transported from neighboring Canada via reliable pipelines.
Natural gas is a commodity .
Like other commodities, natural gas is traded in an open market. Natural gas price movements occur as the supply and demand cycles interact. Supply is tight . Because of lag times inherent in matching supply with increased demand, supplies can become tight. According to EIA and publicly available data, the price of natural gas and oil collapsed in 1998 and 1999, resulting in the industry allocating less capital to exploration and production activities.