Ethane exports hit a low of 372 Mb/d in June as the license requirements for exports of ethane to China implemented by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) were in effect. Those requirements were lifted after a deal was struck with China. Exports recovered in July with Energy Transfer’s Nederland terminal, which had seen exports fall from 180 Mb/d in May to 101 Mb/d in June before increasing in July by 63 Mb/d.
Featured Articles
- Blog
Hot to Go! - Rising NGL Production Spurs Buildout of Flexible LPG/Ethane Export Capacity
A slew of LPG, ethane and ethylene export projects are underway along the Gulf Coast, a direct result of rising U.S. NGL production and generally flat domestic demand. Three of the projects will provide “flex” capacity of some sort — that is, the facilities will be able to shift between LPG and ethane exports or, in some cases, between ethane and ethylene. In today’s RBN blog, we review the history of U.S. LPG and ethane exports, why midstreamers have been struggling to keep up with export capacity, and how the ongoing addition of flex capacity is likely to play out.
- Blog
Take a Look at Me Now - Growing LPG, Ethane Exports Propel Enterprise Toward Bold Expansion Goals
LPG and ethane exports out of the U.S. continue to grow rapidly and are expected to reach 3.4 MMb/d by 2030. They are also critical parts of a plan by Enterprise Products Partners to expand its total liquid hydrocarbon exports to 100 MMbbl per month (100 MMb/month), a roughly 50% increase from current levels for crude oil, LPG and ethane, refined products and petchems. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll take a closer look at Enterprise’s LPG and ethane exports and how much they need to grow to reach the company’s ambitious goal.
- Blog
Whatcha Gonna Do When C2 Says Goodbye - Could U.S. Ethane Survive Without China?
It looks like the U.S. ethane market may have just dodged a bullet. Since late May, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security effectively banned ethane exports to China, the destination for two-thirds of the ethane sent out of Gulf Coast docks — about 225 Mb/d in 2024. Ethane has become a bargaining chip in U.S.-China negotiations over rare earths and tariffs, in part because China has no alternative source of waterborne ethane feedstock for its petchems. But playing the ethane card presented a potential problem for the U.S. too. While China isn’t the only export market for U.S. ethane, there are very limited other destinations for the volumes they typically take. The need to find a home for those volumes could have required significantly more “rejection” of ethane into natural gas at U.S. gas processing plants — i.e., selling ethane for its fuel value instead of recovering it for petchems or export. In today’s RBN blog, we examine the ethane export issue, which remains in flux as part of the broader U.S.-China trade agreement still being finalized.
