Natural Gas - Compressors and Services

Gas compression is one of the essential cogs in the industrial and technological value chains, from vacuum systems used for instance in the production of wafers, liquid crystals, solar cells to fluid engineering

In energy distribution,  gas compression is an indispensable element of midstream pipeline operations

With rare exceptions, compression businesses are specialized divisions of much larger industrial conglomerates such as ABB or Atlas Copco , or fully integrated in midstream energy service providers, or managed as separate entities of diversified portfolios, such as Berkshire Hathaway (owner of BHE Compression Services) 

Although limited in scope for this reason, the natural gas compressor segment sends a strong signal about projected market trends, up or down, by way of contractual services, reflecting anticipated demand trends

Also, close attention should be paid to smaller specialized firms, most sensitive to evolving demand, with marketcaps in the $2 billion range, such as  or 

Atlas Copco and Berkshire have been included as major actors in the field, though diversification makes their share price less sensitive to gas market trends 

Energy Transfer LP , the world's largest natural gas liquid exporter, supplying 20% of the global market with more than 30,000 miles of natural gas and natural gas transportation pipelines, is the benchmark of the theme

More on the stages of the natural gas value chain 

• Natural gas Turbines - a critical link
• Midstream transportation pipelines