Pinch

Producers in northeastern Pennsylvania will get a respite from the region’s pipeline capacity pinch — but not for long — according to Bentek Energy LLC.

Based primarily on the previous day’s 25.1-cent run-up by October futures, but also getting a slight boost from a pinch of extra cooling load returning to the desert Southwest and parts of the South along with forecasts of Friday lows in the 30s in upstate New York and some New England locations, the cash market was flat to higher across the board Thursday.

Drilling will drop by 41% across western Canada this year to the lowest level since 1999 as low natural gas prices pinch exploration and development budgets, predict service and supply contractors.

Drilling will drop by 41% across western Canada this year to the lowest level since 1999 as low natural gas prices pinch exploration and development budgets, predict service and supply contractors.

Feeling the pinch as energy, feedstock and transportation costs continue to rise at staggering rates, chemical manufacturing giant Dow Chemical Co. said that as of June 1 it will raise the price of all of its products by up to 20% — depending on their exposure to the various rising costs — and will review all terms to all customers.

It pays to be a consumer — and even more to be the government — in Canada’s chief natural-gas producing jurisdiction.

Tropical Storm Arlene did little more than lightly pinch oil and natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the weekend, and most of the shut-in production has been restored, with minimal damage to platforms and rigs, according to offshore operators.

Despite the current investment climate in the merchant power plant market, Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) projects that the Northeast should still see a significant amount of new generating capacity come on-line over the next two years. It’s the post-2003 period, however, where recent tightening in project financing will have the greatest supply impact, ESAI said in a recent memo to clients.