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Transcripción del abstract original del autor: The financial and political crisis that shook Argentina at the end of 2001 also seriously affected all the public services that had been privatized during the previous decade, and among them, the local gas industry. The purpose of this paper is to describe the conditions that led to the crisis, the evolution of events and its main consequences, not only for the Argentine economy, but also particularly for a mature gas industry that is considered a leading example in South America. When these effects are analyzed in detail, a series of lessons can be derived, involving among other things: the way gas companies conducted their business in what seemed to be a legally safe environment that showed increasing signs of political and fiscal truoble; the attitude of government officials and regulators; the perception that consumers had about the performance of the gas companies; the concerns of shareholders and parent corporations; etc. Although the Argentine crisis is unique in many ways, the international gas community may learn from it and adopt preventive policies to avoid similar consequences elsewhere.