Abstract
In the past twenty years, major aspects of the U.S natural gas industry have been deregulated and exposed to the discipline of competitive market forces. Authors Jaffe and Makowka describe the natural gas industry in the U. S. and summarize the positive impacts that unbundling and deregulation of gas services have had on the efficiency and reliability of gas markets. However, some aspects of the natural gas industry, such as transportation, that are perceived to have significant natural monolopoly characteristics, continue to face traditional regulatory control. Although deregulation of competitive functions is a necessary condition for efficiency in this industry,