Volatility in the natural gas market : the impact of high natural gas prices on American consumers : hearing before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, second session, February 13, 2005, field hearing in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Using daily futures price data, I examine the behavior of natural gas and crude oil price volatility since 1990. I test whether there has been a significant trend in volatility, whether there was a short-term increase in volatility during the time of the Enron collapse, and whether natural gas and crude oil price volatilities are interrelated. I also measure the persistence of shocks to volatility and discuss its implications for gas-and oil-related contingent claims.