The biggest driver of generally rising LPG exports is the widening gap between how much LPG the U.S. consumes and how much it produces — there’s simply too much of the stuff, and LPG-hungry European and Asian markets beckon. But month-to-month export volumes are often erratic, affected by a wide range of variables. Winter weather in Wisconsin. Steam cracker economics in Germany. Propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant outages in China. Not to mention lingering fog or a tank-farm fire along the Houston Ship Channel, or the startup of a new NGL pipeline to the Marcus Hook terminal near Philly. Add to all this the export-volume spikes that may come later this year and in 2020 when new dock capacity comes online along the Gulf Coast. Today, we take a look at what drives the monthly ups and downs in exports.
To truly understand Cushing — what it does and how it works — you need to know the hub’s assets and how they fit together. RBN’s Cushing Crude Oil Playbook provides the first one-stop, comprehensive guide to the hub’s assets.
As we said a few months ago in Between Mont Belvieu and the Deep Blue Sea, thanks to the Shale Revolution and the burgeoning production of NGLs, the U.S. flipped from being a net LPG importer to a net exporter back in 2012. Since then, LPG exports by ship have soared — to a record 1.375 MMb/d so far in April, according to RBN’s NGL Voyager, and further gains are likely as NGL output continues to rise and domestic demand for propane and butane (the “purity products” that make up LPG) remains close to flat on an annual basis. But it hasn’t been a smooth, steady rise in export volumes; there have been a lot of ups and downs along the way, most of them tied to the long list of variables that can affect how much LPG is loaded onto ships each day, week and month.
One important factor, of course, is how the prices of propane and butane in the U.S. compare with prices in key destination markets such as Asia and Europe. For example, the combination of rising propane prices in Europe in early April and rock-steady prices for propane at Mont Belvieu (the Texas NGL fractionation and storage hub) increased the arbitrage value (or “arb”) for propane exports from the Gulf Coast to Europe to more than 20 cents/gal (c/gal) by mid-April (blue line in Figure 1). At the same time, still-higher propane prices in Asia increased the Mont Belvieu-Asia arb (red line) to nearly 40 c/gal in recent days, pulling more propane from the Gulf Coast to that part of the world.
Join Backstage Pass to Read Full Article
About the song
"Unpredictable" was written by Derrick Baker, Christopher Bridges, Harold Lilly, Jim Jonsin, and James Scheffer. It appears as the first song on Jamie Foxx's second studio album of the same name. The song, which also features rapper Ludacris, was released as the second single from the album in October 2005. It went to #2 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It was Foxx's first US top-ten single. Personnel on the record were: Jamie Foxx (lead, backing vocals), Ludacris (rapping), Warryn Campbell (instrumentation programming), Babyface (guitar, percussion), and Charlie Bereal (guitar).
The album, Unpredictable, was recorded during 2005 at Circle House Studios, The Hit Factory, Larrabee Sound, Mix Star Studios, Ocean Way Recording, Stankonia, Tree Sound, Larrabee North, Phase Four in Los Angeles, and Criteria in Miami. It was produced by Charlie Bereal, Bigg D, Warryn Campbell, Ron Feemster, Sean Garrett, Ron Huggar, Daron Jones, Jim Jonsin, Mateo Laboriel, Harold Lilly, No I.D., Polow da Don Miykal Snoddy, Tank, and Timberland. Released in December 2005, it went to #1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. Four singles were released from the LP.
Jamie Foxx (Eric Marlon Bishop) is an American actor, singer, and comedian. He has released five studio albums and 19 singles. He has starred in many motion pictures, television shows, and comedy specials. He has won an Academy Award (Best Actor for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray), an American Music Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Grammy Awards, four NAACP Image Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. After recovering from a stroke in 2023, Foxx continues to act and do stand-up comedy. He starred in the 2025 action thriller, Tin Soldier, and has directed and stars in the sports comedy drama, All-Star Weekend, due for release at the end of 2025.
Comments
A dumb question perhaps, but why aren’t y-grade raw mix NGLs exported in that form?