natural gas prices

Natural gas futures took something of a hit off the release of government storage figures that were greater than what the market was anticipating.

Northeast and Midwest natural gas forwards markets screamed higher at the start of the week — posting gains of more than $1 at one market hub — as a series of weather systems are expected to give these areas the first real taste of winter.

Physical gas prices for Friday delivery continued their upward trajectory in Thursday’s trading with a wide range of market responses to a strong screen as well as weather forecasts calling for brutal cold to encompass the entire eastern two-thirds of the country by next week.

Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. will construct a chemical production facility in Luling, LA, in St. Charles Parish and upgrade the plant it currently operates in Geismar, LA, in Ascension Parish at a combined cost of $66 million. The expansions will increase Momentive’s production of formaldehyde for use by nearby chemical plants in the manufacture of other products. “The additional capacity, which is complementary to our existing integrated network of assets, will enable us to meet the anticipated growth in the Gulf Coast region for several significant and longtime customers,” said Dale Plante, Momentive executive vice president. The Luling plant is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2016, and the Geismar plant expansion should come online in the fourth quarter of 2015, the company said. When completed, the plants will have the capacity to produce more than 400,000 metric tons of formaldehyde per year. Formaldehyde is used as a key additive and binding ingredient in engineered wood products and in of other chemicals and products, including herbicides and fungicides.

Plains All American Pipeline LP and Enterprise Products Partners LP are constructing a condensate gathering system into their Three Rivers, TX, terminal and doubling the mainline capacity of their Eagle Ford Joint Venture (JV) Pipeline from Three Rivers to Corpus Christi, TX.

Greyrock Energy Inc. has received investor support for a small-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility in the Houston area and expects to have the plant operational by the end of 2015, the company said Tuesday.

Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group is putting its oil/natural gas exploration and production (E&P) business unit on the sale block next year to focus more on its utility, pipeline/services and construction units, CEO David Goodin said Tuesday.

Dominion submitted a pre-filing request to FERC on Tuesday, asking regulators to begin an environmental review of its proposed $500 million Supply Header project in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Rex Energy Corp. is pulling back slightly on spending and its rig count in the Appalachian Basin for 2015 after building its asset base and experimenting with technologies and strategies in recent quarters, management said Wednesday in reporting third quarter results.