This work analyses key issues of a European policy and future regulation for natural gas. The structure and performance of gas markets and the organizational characteristics of gas supply, transmission and distribution are considered. The work examines how the regulatory policies of Member States differ substantially from one another and from most determinants of a European energy policy: differences in system of ownership on all levels of the industry; in degrees of concentration and integration; in market structures of supply and demand especially in access to natural gas sources; in regulatory policies and priorities especially regarding gas-to-gas and substitute competition; in regulatory instruments; in motions of national interest, optimal use and preservation of resources and investments; and dependence on foreign supplies. The development of Community law benefits from an appreciation of these factors, and experts from most EC member states provide a rigorous and thorough analysis of the issues.

Since the mid-2000s, the European Union has made unprecedented strides toward the creation of a common energy policy. This book takes stock of these developments, evaluating how much progress has actually been made and what remains to be done, what factors explain these recent advances and their limitations.

Covers the whole range of issues involved: from the size and characteristics of the resource base to public utility regulation; from the technological possibilities to market-based instruments of policy; from gas delivery infrastructure to carbon taxes. Also represents a variety of skills and interests: geology, engineering, economics, law, public administration and regulation. Addressed questions of policy at the state level, at a time when the state of Texas was engaged in developing an energy policy with a significant environmental policy component.

This book is a product of investigations conducted within the Global Utility Research Unit (Guru) of Agici Corporate Finance (Milan, Italy). More specifically, it is the result of a project developed by the Observatory on Alliances and Strategies in the Pan-European Utility Market set-up seven years ago with the contribution of Accenture. The project, entitled “Pan-European Gas Industry Scenario – Truth and Lies”, was presented at the 2008 Milan annual international conference (www. agici. it). I would therefore like to thank Luca Cesari, Claudio Arcudi and Massimo Pagella from Accenture for their continued support. The scope of this book is to shed some light on a market, that of natural gas, which is highly complex and at the same time of fundamental importance for Europe for at least the next 20 years. We do not intend to build a theory but only to develop a better understanding of the key factors. We fully recognise that the each of the issues we cover deserves further investigation and we are also well aware that we may have omitted a number of important considerations and topics. These shortcomings are - at least in part - justified by the desire to keep the book to a r- sonable size for editorial reasons.

The global trend to replace traditional fossil fuels like coal and oil with clean burning gas has been spurred on largely by heightened environmental concerns and international commitments to comply with noxious emission limits. The physical and combustion characteristics of natural gas are able to respond to these environmental concerns, thus providing highly industrialized nations in particular with a means to meet the requirements of international environmental agreements. The use of natural gas also includes the important advantage of high efficiency in gas-to-electricity conversion, a factor central to developing nations. Both the above have created a new demand sector for natural gas, which is reflected in the substantial growth of internationally traded gas over the last decade. This volume covers topics ranging from the commercial opportunities and constraints relating to natural gas exploitation - and its implications for the global oil industry - to the emerging gas technologies that are likely to chart its future development. The book also assesses the impact of government regulation and liberalization on the industry, from the Canadian and European perspectives, as well as regional developments in the Asian market, thus presenting a broad vision of past and future trends in the natural gas industry.

Natural gas markets have undergone momentous changes, worldwide. This book updates and expands on the dynamics, performance and forward path of expanding natural gas use in the US and worldwide, including international trade. It brings together major research themes and findings with recent updates and analysis of new trends and developments. It also explores many considerations for natural gas market development, such as the importance of infrastructure, transparent pricing, and institutional capacity. This book is unique in providing background on the full natural gas value chain as well as information and analysis that can foster scenario-building and decision-making. Of particular value are the lessons learned and demonstrated for those countries that aspire to build effective natural gas markets and to expand natural gas development and use.

EU energy law and policy have become more and more complex in recent years. Today these areas feature a multitude of layers concerning not only regulation of the power industry, but also security of energy supply, climate change, consumer needs and technical innovation. This textbook serves as an introduction to this distinctive field. For readers without much experience with the EU, the author provides a separate chapter which outlines the institutional structure and functioning of the European Union in the field of energy policy. Tables of key court decisions and key legislation, review questions and further reading lists ultimately help to give readers a lasting impression of one of the most vibrant fields of EU law and policy.