Preface.(energy industry economic aspects)

It is a great pleasure to introduce this Special Issue of The Energy Journal which focuses on modeling of natural gas markets. The issues that are addressed are complex, the analyses intricate, and the findings often subtle and nuanced. The authors draw upon an extensive tool-kit ranging from equilibrium models to game theory to non-stationary econometric models in an ambitious effort to improve our understanding of these markets. Even a casual review of these papers will bear substantial fruit for the reader. A deeper reading will yield a plentiful harvest indeed.

The volume consists of papers by twelve research teams that participated in a recent Stanford University Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) study of international natural gas markets and trade. A number of the papers apply a world or regional model to one or more important strategic or policy issue. Others discuss important analytical issues, such as market power, interregional natural gas prices or North American supply conditions.

This Special Issue would not have been possible without special funding from StatoilHydro and the encouragement and advice of their Natural Gas Market Analysis Department. EMF and study participants wish to express their deep appreciation for this support. Public dissemination of the ideas embodied in this volume is essential if models are to become more credible and useful for decision-making.

Broad-based, independent research requires continued support over extended periods of time. The Forum also wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous and long-standing support of the following organizations: American Petroleum Institute, Aramco Services, BP America, California Energy Commission, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (Japan), Chevron, Duke Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, Electricite de France, EnCana, Environment Canada, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan), Natural Resources Canada, Southern Company, SUEZ Energy North America, U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Adonis Yatchew

Editor-in-Chief, The Energy Journal

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