Managing Risk and Uncertainty in International Trade: Canada's Natural Gas Exports by Alan R Winberg

Author:Alan R Winberg [Winberg, Alan R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780429731938
Goodreads: 50547836
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

The conservation measures which were applied by the Railroad Commission of Texas were later mirrored by similar commissions in other producing states of the United States and, in Canada, by the Alberta regulator. In all cases, this regulation was eventually supported by industry. Thus, it is possible to argue that these measures were beneficial to the industry, and government power was brought to bear to correct a situation of wastefulness. However, on the other side of the coin, it may be that the consuming public as a whole, was not well-represented and that, had alternative technical considerations been made, the price of hydrocarbon fuels could have been lower. This would surely have been the case, had producers been allowed to compete more freely in certain areas. For example, if low-cost producers had been able to back out higher cost supplies, this could have reduced prices.

Taking one step back, and examining this from the viewpoint of the dependency literature, and the international dialogue on commodities, these supply-control activities, performed by state regulators are not all that unlike what is being sought overall via international commodity agreements, or taken as an integrated program for commodity trade, the proposed Common Fund for commodities. The main difference here, however, is that the major consumers, being for the most part the industrialized central states, are well able to organize and devote the financial and human resources to address the technical details that will make any eventual integrated program function. This leads one to the fundamental difference in this case, where the regulator of the proposed Fund will likely not be a "captive" of the regulatees, but rather strongly influenced by and closely observed by both the consumers and the producers. Thus, if such an institution ever commences actual operations, both groups will likely be heavily involved in the development of operational guidelines and also, most likely, in the selection of key personnel.

1. By the same token, an importer (or government of an importing country) could consider import prices and volumes, and other factors such as security of supply, cost and availability of substitutes and encourage the development of substitutes or alternative fuel supplies as appropriate.

2. For an interesting account of the use of wind and water power as the major non-human power sources in the Middle Ages, see Gimple (1976).

3. For example, the Lomé Convention.

4. General background information on natural gas use in Holland was provided to the author by J.H.R.D. van Roijen, Counsellor, Royal Nederlands Embassy, Ottawa on several occasions in June 1979. His kind assistance is appreciated. Additional information, was provided by J. Phillipson, Counsellor, Royal Nederlands Embassy, Ottawa, in November 1982.

5. N.V. Nederlands Gasunie (1977; 1978b). Shareholders are: Dutch Government 50 percent; Shell Nederlands B.V. 25 percent; Esso Holding Company Holland, Inc. 25 percent.

6. OECD. International Energy Agency (I.E.A.) (1979) p. 3; Odell (1975) p. 109.

7. N.V. Nederlands Gasunie. Facts. (1978).

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