My father was in charge of purchasing the natural gas (which is intertwined with oil at the extraction and pricing levels) for most of Rhode Island for years. W

My father was in charge of purchasing the natural gas (which is intertwined with oil at the extraction and pricing levels) for most of Rhode Island for years. When I ask him about this, he says capacity comes on only slowly because of the massive investments involved and time to build out, so supply lags demand, which is why prices go from a buck a gallon to four in a few years. Yes, it's more profitable to increase capacity, but if you decide to invest now, you don't see the benefit for years and in the meantime, prices are high. If everyone decides to increase capacity, and it comes online all at once, prices fall apart. It's an interesting game theory problem in that regard.