Industrial

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wants to ease up on the way related sources of air emissions from industrial operations, including Marcellus Shale developments, are grouped together for regulatory purposes.

Battered by seasonal early-fall weather throughout nearly all of the market, further loss of storage injection capability and the weekend decline of industrial load, the cash market fell at all locations but one Friday.

Cleveland-based Chart Industries Inc., a manufacturer of equipment to handle hydrocarbon and industrial gases, said it is expanding manufacturing capacity for liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment to meet growing North American infrastructure demand. “We are expanding capacity to meet current customer needs and to remain ready to serve the rapid growth we are seeing in North America for LNG equipment for applications such as fueling stations, transportation and remote power generation,” said Tom Carey, president of Chart’s distribution and storage unit. “We believe we are in the early stages of a substantial LNG infrastructure buildout in North America that we expect will last for many years, similar to opportunities we are pursuing in China and elsewhere.” The company said its first phase of investment will be about $4 million at a site in the Upper Midwest during the fourth quarter.

Not surprisingly, with the weekend decline of industrial load being added to the existing bearish influences that had taken the market lower in the previous two days, prices fell again at nearly every location Friday in the launch of the October aftermarket.

Local distribution company (LDC) and large industrial gas consumers have learned a lot over the years about managing their assets more efficiently from gas marketing companies, but the shale boom has created a new challenge.

Local distribution company (LDC) and large industrial gas consumers have learned a lot over the years about managing their assets more efficiently from gas marketing companies, but the shale boom has created a new challenge.

Expanded use of combined heat and power (CHP) systems, which recover and make use of waste heat from power generation, could be a means of growing demand for Marcellus Shale natural gas, according to the Commonwealth Recycled Energy Economic Development Alliance (CREEDA).

The combination of continued warm to hot forecasts in many areas and the return of industrial load from the greater declines of a low-demand holiday weekend generated strong price increases nearly across the board Tuesday. Generally hot weather is expected to continue at least into mid-July in much of the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

The industrial customers rated most likely to burn off Canadian natural gas surpluses — Alberta oilsands projects — are poised to gain expanded markets beyond North America to support their growth.