the evolution of natural gas markets j paul roberts senior associate institute for energy law & enterprise mail uh edu introduction use in us grew dramatically through early 1970s during most this period much pro duced was a by product crude oil production reservoirs that produced dry were generally large and provided easy targets drilling long lived re serves over last 40 years consumption has been cyclical 2003 only modestly above level 1973 as is clear from figure 1 varied reasons variations demand often rooted market inter vention government federal regulation prices interstate began 1950s kept artificially low power commission fpc predecessor to regulatory asserted jurisdiction price delivered pipelines transportation although producers protested levels set supreme court upheld
