Third year of the Natural Gas Policy Act continues to pose producer problems

December 1, 1980, marked the beginning of the third year of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978. Euphemistically called the Natural Gas Deregulation Act, the Act placed all natural gas under Federal regulations. Of the 6 chapter titles, Title I (A), covering wellhead price controls, had the most immediate impact upon the producer. This work briefly discusses the history preceding the Act and the price controls placed into effect by Title I. The principal purpose is to identify and describe the major problem areas plaguing producers. With the inaguration of the new administration, producers can look forward to new directions for the nation's energy policy, which, hopefully, will expedite resolutions of these 2-yr-old problems.