Developments in the North American gas services business

The gas services business sector was briefly defined. Emerging issues of the business were reviewed as seen from the vantage point of Westcoast Gas Services Inc. The traditional gas market was described as one in which marketer's credit was overlooked, formal risk management was not employed, unpriced imbedded options were common, there was little capital investment, and there were no cash trading exchanges. Specific industry forces and customer needs were said to have created a powerful driving force which will fundamentally change this outdated framework of the gas service industry. Two key issues were said to emerge from this renewal. One of these is risk management, the other is the need for major ongoing investments. Skilled people, scale and scope of the business, transactional excellence, credit worthiness and systems technology were the other forces driving the upcoming transformation of the industry during the next few years