Natural gas price: new increase in most of the industrialized countries

This short study draws up a comparative balance sheet of the natural gas prices in 13 industrialized countries (Sweden, Italy, Germany, South Africa, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Belgium, Australia, USA, Finland, UK and Canada). A general prices increase tendency is noticed in most of these countries. The rest of the study focusses on the French monopoly of Gaz de France (GdF), on the evolution of the industrial consumption and on the forthcoming deregulation of the European gas market. (J.S.)