Natural Gas Markets in the U.K. : Competition, Industry Structure, and Market Power of the Incumbent

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 variety of specialized services and market transactions to meet customer needs. But the entire process has been difficult because of a flaw in the initial industry structure: the government privatized British Gas as a vertically integrated company. The U. K. experience shows that leaving gas supply integrated with pipeline transportation and tying up gas in long-term contracts impede competition. This Note reviews the U.K. reform and the development of new spot, on-system, and "Flexibility Mechanism" markets.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Juris, Andrej
Format:	Viewpoint biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 1998-03
Subjects:	BILATERAL CONTRACTS, GAS, GAS COMPANY, GAS CONTRACTS, GAS INDUSTRY, GAS MARKET, GAS MARKETS, GAS PIPELINE, GAS PRICES, GAS PRODUCTION, GAS REGULATION, GAS SALES, GAS SECTOR, GAS SUPPLIERS, GAS SUPPLIES, GAS SUPPLY, GAS TRADING, GAS TRANSACTIONS, GAS TRANSPORTATION, NATURAL GAS, NATURAL GAS CONTRACTS, NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY, NATURAL GAS MARKETS, NATURAL GAS SUPPLY, OIL, OIL COMPANIES, PETROLEUM, PIPELINE, PIPELINE NETWORK, PIPELINE SYSTEM, PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION, PIPELINES, SPOT MARKET, SPOT MARKETS NATURAL GAS, GAS UTILITIES, DEREGULATION, PIPELINE TRANSPORT, CONSUMER DEMAND, MARKET COMPETITION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1998/03/693689/natural-gas-markets-uk-competition-industry-structure-market-power-incumbent http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11560
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