A few years ago a shortage of natural gas drove prices sky high. Like-wise, gasoline prices rose when demands exceeded supplies. A glut in the oil market drove prices back down. The law of supply and demand functioned according to texbook description in the case of oil, but the situation is otherwise in the current natural gas market. Natural gas consumers are finding their heating bills more of a burden than last year, in spite of a dramatic increase in suppliers. There is so much natural gas available that many suppliers are closing down their plants for lack of a market, and it is rumored that some suppliers are even burning off their surplus gas.