| The history of three liquefied natural gas contracts between the United States and Algeria illuminates the policy formation process in both countries. The changed global energy market which resulted from the oil embargo of 1973 and the oil price rise of 1979 caused policy responses in the U.S. and Algeria which rendered the contracts uneconomic.;Germane political history establishes the Algerian context for the liquefied natural gas contracts. Algerian development plans illustrate the impact of revenue derived from energy exports. Algerian natural gas export contracts with France, Spain, Belgium and Italy are considered.;Analysis of the three American contracts (El Paso Natural Gas Co., Panhandle-Trunkline, and Distrigas), focuses on executive intervention in the El Paso contract, the role of Congress and the regulatory agencies in the Panhandle-Trunkline negotiations, and the effect of American deregulatory policy on the Distrigas contract. Export-Import Bank and Maritime Administration support for the contracts is explored.;The study highlights the interaction of changing global market conditions with domestic policy and the importance of domestic structure in the timing of response. The evidence indicates continuity in market responsiveness through periods of elite change in the United States.;The theoretical background draws on work in the field of comparative politics to explore the relationship between domestic and international change and to examine similarities and differences between capitalist and socialist modes of economic organization. The study addresses U.S. natural gas supply, natural gas import policy, and bureaucratic, legislative and regulatory initiatives after 1973. The establishment of the Department of Energy (DOE), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the Economic Regulatory Administration (ERA), the passage of the Natural Gas Policy Act, and regulatory policy under the Reagan administration all contributed to changes in the natural gas supply in the United States. Canadian and Mexican gas export policy is also briefly examined. |
