Propane -- The Next Big Story -- November 27, 2015

Updates

June 22, 2017: in less than five years, the US has flipped from next importer of LPG to net exporter, and exports are surging.

Original Post

From crisis to glut in less than a year. 

John Kemp is reporting:

Liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) are the fastest-growing category of hydrocarbon exports from the United States, with volumes up almost four-fold since 2012.

Some data points:

• US propane exports, 2012: 200,000 bbls
• US propane exports, 2015: nearing one million bopd 
• composition: a range of light hydrocarbons to include ethane, butane, and propane, among others; 
• purpose: petrochemical feedstock to residential heating and cooking
• rules: unlike crude oil, LPG is treated as a refined product and can be exported with few restrictions, a position the U.S. Department of Commerce confirmed in 2014
• traditionally, most LPG has been marketed in neighbouring countries, including Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean
• in 2012, neighbouring countries accounted for 55 percent of all LPG exports, rising to almost 80 percent if South America is included.
• by 2015, however, the total share of LPG exports to other countries in the western hemisphere had dropped to just 53 percent
• exports to Europe, Africa and especially Asia have surged and now account for nearly half of all the LPG shipped abroad
• China has overtaken Canada and Mexico as the most important export market for U.S. LPG, taking more than 24 million barrels, almost 100,000 bpd, in the first eight months of 2015

Much more at the link.

Previous posts of interest:

• US propane exports, October 29, 2015
• propane rejection, July 12, 2015
• propane update, RBN Energy, December 4, 2014
• tight propane supply reaches crisis, February 10, 2014