Natural gas marketing has undergone many changes since the days when natural gas was a highly regulated by-product of crude oil production. In the past, the federal and state governments regulated every aspect of the natural gas business from wellhead prices to gathering and transmission rates to distribution policies. Natural gas marketing has changed considerably since the mid-1980s, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission managed the transition of the natural gas business to a less regulated industry. The new deregulated natural gas market allows producers to sell directly to end-users.

Today's market has also fostered the development of natural gas marketers who can either collect suppliers and find markets for the production or collect customers and find supplies to meet their demand. In an attempt to achieve the highest average price for natural gas, Vista sells the majority of its production to industrial customers or nationally-recognized gas marketing firms with consistent year-round demand. For example, our contract with Pittsburgh Glass Works, (formerly PPG), in Meadville, Pennsylvania, provides an excellent market. In addition, we have contracted with natural gas marketing firms on El Paso Corporation's pipeline system which runs through Vista's Sandy Lake Field. This pipeline system connects to the major markets in the Northeast.

In the Rockies, Vista's Nebraska natural gas production is sold through the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline system, one of the largest pipeline transporters in North America, operating more than 37,000 miles of pipelines. In Colorado, approximately one-half of our production is also sold through Kinder-Morgan and about one-half through High Plains Gathering System.

The marketing of natural gas is an integral part of the natural gas supply chain and ensures that a viable market for natural gas exists at all times.