IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v30y2008i3p748-765.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Asymmetric price responses, market integration and market power: A study of the U.S. natural gas market

Author

Listed:
  • Murry, Donald
  • Zhu, Zhen

Abstract

We studied the market performance at selected, representative natural gas trading hubs in the U.S. and documented different price behaviors among various hubs. With NYMEX prices as the competitive benchmark, we found empirically that the spot price responses at some trading hubs were systematically asymmetric, thus demonstrating a market advantage by either buyers or sellers. We further found that the presence of market power was a very plausible explanation for this price behavior at some hubs.

Suggested Citation

  • Murry, Donald & Zhu, Zhen, 2008. "Asymmetric price responses, market integration and market power: A study of the U.S. natural gas market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 748-765, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:30:y:2008:i:3:p:748-765
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140-9883(06)00118-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steen, Frode & Salvanes, Kjell G., 1999. "Testing for market power using a dynamic oligopoly model," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 147-177, February.
    2. John Rust & George Hall, 2003. "Middlemen versus Market Makers: A Theory of Competitive Exchange," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(2), pages 353-403, April.
    3. Johansen, Soren & Juselius, Katarina, 1990. "Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Inference on Cointegration--With Applications to the Demand for Money," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 52(2), pages 169-210, May.
    4. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Christopher R. Knittel, 1999. "Market Power in Electricity Markets: Beyond Concentration Measures," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 65-88.
    5. Rossi, Barbara, 2005. "Confidence Intervals for Half-Life Deviations From Purchasing Power Parity," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 23, pages 432-442, October.
    6. Donald Murry and Zhen Zhu, 2004. "EnronOnline and Informational Efficiency in the U.S. Natural Gas Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 57-74.
    7. Chiou Wei, Song Zan & Zhu, Zhen, 2006. "Commodity convenience yield and risk premium determination: The case of the U.S. natural gas market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 523-534, July.
    8. Paul L. Joskow & Edward Kohn, 2002. "A Quantitative Analysis of Pricing Behavior in California's Wholesale Electricity Market During Summer 2000," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-35.
    9. von der Fehr, Nils-Henrik Morch & Harbord, David, 1993. "Spot Market Competition in the UK Electricity Industry," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(418), pages 531-546, May.
    10. De Vany, Arthur & Walls, W. David, 1993. "Pipeline Access and Market Integration in the Natural Gas Industry: Evidence from Cointegration Tests," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8368m144, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Arthur De Vany & W. David Walls, 1993. "Pipeline Access and Market Integration in the Natural Gas Industry: Evidence from Cointegration Tests," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-20.
    12. Radchenko, Stanislav, 2005. "Oil price volatility and the asymmetric response of gasoline prices to oil price increases and decreases," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 708-730, September.
    13. W. David Walls, 1994. "Price Convergence Across Natural Gas Fields and City Markets," The Energy Journal, , vol. 15(4), pages 37-48, October.
    14. Robert S. Pindyck, 2001. "The Dynamics of Commodity Spot and Futures Markets: A Primer," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gianfreda, Angelica & Grossi, Luigi, 2012. "Forecasting Italian electricity zonal prices with exogenous variables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2228-2239.
    2. Scarcioffolo, Alexandre Ribeiro & Etienne, Xiaoli L., 2019. "How connected are the U.S. regional natural gas markets in the post-deregulation era? Evidence from time-varying connectedness analysis," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Capece, Guendalina & Cricelli, Livio & Di Pillo, Francesca & Levialdi, Nathan, 2012. "New regulatory policies in Italy: Impact on financial results, on liquidity and profitability of natural gas retail companies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 90-98.
    4. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Popp, Stephan, 2009. "Can the electricity market be characterised by asymmetric behaviour?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4364-4372, November.
    5. Rafael Garaffa, Alexandre Szklo, André F. P. Lucena, and José Gustavo Féres, 2019. "Price Adjustments and Transaction Costs in the European Natural Gas Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    6. Capece, Guendalina & Cricelli, Livio & Di Pillo, Francesca & Levialdi, Nathan, 2010. "A cluster analysis study based on profitability and financial indicators in the Italian gas retail market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3394-3402, July.
    7. Avalos, Roger & Fitzgerald, Timothy & Rucker, Randal R., 2016. "Measuring the effects of natural gas pipeline constraints on regional pricing and market integration," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 217-231.
    8. Maarten J. Arentsen, 2011. "Trends in Gas," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), International Handbook of Network Industries, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Potts, Todd B. & Yerger, David B., 2016. "Marcellus Shale and structural breaks in oil and gas markets: The case of Pennsylvania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 50-58.
    10. Choi, Gobong & Heo, Eunnyeong, 2017. "Estimating the price premium of LNG in Korea and Japan: The price formula approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 676-684.
    11. Jonathan E. Ogbuabor & God'stime O. Eigbiremolen & Charles O. Manasseh & Ifeoma C. Mba, 2018. "Asymmetric Price Transmission and Rent‐seeking in Road Fuel Markets: A Comparative Study of South Africa and Selected Eurozone Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 30(3), pages 278-290, September.
    12. Mohammadi, Hassan, 2011. "Market integration and price transmission in the U.S. natural gas market: From the wellhead to end use markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 227-235, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dukhanina, Ekaterina & Massol, Olivier & Lévêque, François, 2019. "Policy measures targeting a more integrated gas market: Impact of a merger of two trading zones on prices and arbitrage activity in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 583-593.
    2. Growitsch, Christian & Rammerstorfer, Margarethe, 2008. "Zur wettbewerblichen Wirkung des Zweivertragsmodells im deutschen Gasmarkt," WIK Discussion Papers 303, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    3. Ekaterina Dukhanina & Olivier Massol, 2017. "Spatial Integration of Natural Gas Markets A Litterature Review," Working Papers hal-03187890, HAL.
    4. Renou-Maissant, Patricia, 2012. "Toward the integration of European natural gas markets:A time-varying approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 779-790.
    5. Asche, Frank & Misund, Bård & Sikveland, Marius, 2013. "The relationship between spot and contract gas prices in Europe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 212-217.
    6. David Woroniuk & Arzé Karam & Tooraj Jamasb, 2019. "European Gas Markets, Trading Hubs, and Price Formation: A Network Perspective," Working Papers EPRG1922, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    7. Dahl, Roy Endre & Ogland, Atle & Osmundsen, Petter & Sikveland, Marius, 2011. "Are oil and natural gas going separate ways in the UK? Cointegration tests with Structural shifts," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2011/5, University of Stavanger.
    8. Walls, W. David, 1993. "Competition and Prices in the Deregulated Gas Pipeline Network: A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt9tg8v7zd, University of California Transportation Center.
    9. Arano, Kathleen & Velikova, Marieta, 2010. "Estimating the long-run equilibrium relationship: The case of city-gate and residential natural gas prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 901-907, July.
    10. Arano, Kathleen G. & Blair, Benjamin F., 2008. "An ex-post welfare analysis of natural gas regulation in the industrial sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 789-806, May.
    11. Asche, Frank & Oglend, Atle & Osmundsen, Petter, 2012. "Gas versus oil prices the impact of shale gas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 117-124.
    12. Growitsch Christian & Nepal Rabindra & Stronzik Marcus, 2015. "Price Convergence and Information Efficiency in German Natural Gas Markets," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 87-103, February.
    13. Gebre-Mariam, Yohannes Kebede, 2011. "Testing for unit roots, causality, cointegration, and efficiency: The case of the northwest US natural gas market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 3489-3500.
    14. Ghoddusi, Hamed, 2016. "Integration of physical and futures prices in the US natural gas market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 229-238.
    15. Kyle Olsen & James Mjelde & David Bessler, 2015. "Price formulation and the law of one price in internationally linked markets: an examination of the natural gas markets in the USA and Canada," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(1), pages 117-142, January.
    16. Arthur Thomas & Olivier Massol & Benoît Sévi, 2019. "How are day-ahead prices informative for predicting the next day’s consumption of natural gas?," Post-Print hal-04319396, HAL.
    17. Hesamzadeh, Mohammad R. & Biggar, Darryl R. & Hosseinzadeh, Nasser, 2011. "The TC-PSI indicator for forecasting the potential for market power in wholesale electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 5988-5998, October.
    18. Masih, Rumi & Masih, Abul M. M., 1996. "Stock-Watson dynamic OLS (DOLS) and error-correction modelling approaches to estimating long- and short-run elasticities in a demand function: new evidence and methodological implications from an appl," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 315-334, October.
    19. Scarcioffolo, Alexandre Ribeiro & Etienne, Xiaoli L., 2019. "How connected are the U.S. regional natural gas markets in the post-deregulation era? Evidence from time-varying connectedness analysis," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Frank Asche & Petter Osmundsen & Maria Sandsmark, 2005. "Is It All Oil?," CESifo Working Paper Series 1401, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:30:y:2008:i:3:p:748-765. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.