Plunge

Baker Hughes Inc. expects the North American rig count will “begin to stabilize” in the second half of this year, but things are expected to get worse before they get better, CEO Martin Craighead said Wednesday.

Baker Hughes Inc. expects the North American rig count will “begin to stabilize” in the second half of this year, but things are expected to get worse before they get better, CEO Martin Craighead said Wednesday.

Prices for Monday gas rose a nickel on average and market strength was most apparent at Midwest points as temperatures were forecast to plunge over the long weekend. Midwest strength was largely countered by weakness in the Gulf Coast and Rockies.

The plunge in oil prices in recent months hasn’t begun to pressure North American chemical producers to shift their feedstocks from natural gas liquids (NGL) products, according to midstream and chemical company executives.

The plunge in oil prices in recent months hasn’t begun to pressure North American chemical producers to shift their feedstocks from natural gas liquids (NGL) products, according to midstream and chemical company executives.

March natural gas futures Thursday took the plunge below the psychologically important $4 support level and couldn’t recover, possibly dooming the market to a prolonged period of sub-$4 prices.

Forecasts of a plunge of arctic cold from Canada into the U.S. Midwest and Northeast failed to prevent a decline of spot prices at most points Tuesday.

Canada’s Corridor Resources Inc. saw its stock plunge last week after reporting “unexpected and perplexing” results from a shale gas appraisal program in New Brunswick.

Moderate to cool conditions were still dominating the overall forecasts, and as a couple of sources had pointed out, Thursday’s 24.8-cent screen plunge “practically guaranteed” lower prices Friday. They were correct as quotes fell across the board from about C5 cents to 30 cents or so; all drops were in double digits except for those at Empress and NOVA Inventory Transfer in Western Canada.