Question

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, refineries along the Gulf coast, and the pipeline infrastructure that transports oil and gas to customers across the eastern United States. The winter of 2006 was unusually cold in many parts of the country. How did these events affect the market for natural gas? (Explain which curve(s) shift(s) and the effects on the equilibrium quantity and equilibrium price of natural gas.)

Answer 1

The supply of gas was severely decreased by Katrina. When the cold winter came, demand for gas to heat homes sharply increased. the mixture of supply falling and demand rising caused an enormous increase within the equilibrium price of supply falling and demand rising caused an enormous increase within the equilibrium price of gas . The change in equilibrium quantity is uncertain because we do not know the relative size of every shift.