Went

CME Group went on the defensive last Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in a front-page expose said high-speed traders using powerful computers are trying to profit from being able to see their futures market orders executed milliseconds before the rest of the market is able to see them.

CME Group went on the defensive Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in a front-page expose said high-speed traders using powerful computers are trying to profit from being able to see their own futures market orders executed milliseconds before the rest of the market is able to see them.

Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. LP announced two projects in Freeport, TX, for its Gulf Coast pipeline and hydrogen/syngas businesses. The first project went on-line in March and has increased the supply of hydrogen purification and compression capacity to Air Liquide’s hydrogen pipeline system. The second project is expected to go online in 2014 and involves the construction of a new liquid oxygen storage and vaporization facility at the Freeport air separation unit complex to supply oxygen to the Gulf Coast pipeline network. This new installation represents an increase of nearly 25% over current storage and vaporization capacities on the networkd. Hydrogen gas is used by refiners to produce cleaner burning fuels, among other industrial uses. Government regulations calling for reductions in fuel emissions have increased demand for hydrogen. Growth in industrial gas demand is also anticipated as a result of the cost advantages resulting from low-priced natural gas, the company said.

Pennsylvania continues its support for natural gas use to power vehicles.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it plans to investigate this week why no alarms went off when a 20-inch diameter Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline exploded Tuesday near the rural community of Sissonville, WV.

Long-haul trucking fleets are increasingly turning to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel, and with the upcoming availability of larger (12- to 13-liter engines) next year, the U.S. market could eventually reach more than 2 Tcf annually, according to Clean Energy Fuels Corp.’s CEO.

A coalition of 14 environmental groups has asked Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to reverse a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) policy that requires field offices to advise senior DEP officials of their intent to acknowledge water contamination related to Marcellus Shale gas well operations before notification letters are sent to potentially affected homeowners.

Traders were scratching their heads Friday morning as CME Globex natural gas futures and options markets went dark at 10:04 a.m. EDT.

The integration of Illinois-based Nicor Inc. to form the largest distribution-only natural gas utility operation in the nation went off without a hitch in the first quarter (see Daily GPI, Dec. 8, 2011) but financial results were pressured by unseasonable winter weather, AGL Resources Inc. CEO John Somerhalder told financial analysts Tuesday.