Editing Enron (section)

====Houston Natural Gas====
The [[Houston Natural Gas]] (HNG) corporation was initially formed from the Houston Oil Co. in 1925 to provide gas to customers in the Houston market through the building of [[Pipeline transport|gas pipelines]]. Under the leadership of CEO Robert Herring from 1967 to 1981, the company took advantage of the unregulated Texas natural gas market and the commodity surge in the early 1970s to become a dominant force in the energy industry. Toward the end of the 1970s, HNG's luck began to run out with rising gas prices forcing clients to switch to oil. In addition, with the passing of the [[Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978]], the Texas market was less profitable and as a result, HNG's profits fell. After Herring died in 1981, M.D. Matthews briefly took over as CEO in a 3-year stint with initial success, but ultimately, a big dip in earnings led to his exit. In 1984, [[Kenneth Lay]] succeeded Matthews and inherited the troubled conglomerate.<ref>{{cite book|title=Edison to Enron: Energy Markets and Political Strategies|last=Bradley|first=Robert L.|publisher=Scrivener|year=2011|isbn=978-0470917367|pages=371–372, 464–467}}</ref>