Western Canada’s propane market has been rapidly evolving in the past few years. Rising Canadian demand for propane and direct exports to Asia from British Columbia’s (BC) two export terminals have been jockeying for supremacy with railed propane exports to the U.S. Those exports to Asia and the U.S. will soon be facing another challenge: the pending startup of Inter Pipeline’s Heartland Petrochemical Complex, which will increase propane demand in Western Canada by a hefty 22 Mb/d in the coming weeks. In today’s RBN blog, we look at what it could mean for propane exports to the U.S., which has traditionally depended on an assist from Canadian volumes.
The RBN NGL Analytic Suite delivers timely updates and outlooks on the domestic propane market, as well as U.S. LPG and ethane exports. The suite includes the bi-monthly NGL Voyager report and the weekly and monthly U.S. Propane Billboard.
You may have noticed over the years that we at RBN like writing about propane. Whether it be in Canada, the U.S., or overseas, propane continues to be a market — like so many in the energy industry — that is subject to difficult-to-predict changes in supply and demand. That’s what keeps it interesting. However, there is one very predictable shift in the Western Canadian propane market that is about to take shape but is still of great interest, as it may portend a fundamental realignment of the region’s propane balances and how that might affect one of its primary export customers: the U.S.
The nature of the realignment is one of increased demand for propane in Alberta stemming from the pending startup of Calgary, AB-based Inter Pipeline Ltd.’s (IPL) Heartland Petrochemical Complex (HPC), just outside Edmonton (Figure 1). The company said July 5 that it had successfully commissioned the polypropylene (PP) plant at the complex in preparation for the pending third-quarter start of its propane de-hydrogenation (PDH) unit, which provides the raw material for the production of PP from regionally produced propane. Once it's up and running in the weeks ahead, the fully integrated PDH-PP complex will generate a sustained 22 Mb/d increase in propane demand in Western Canada, continuing a trend under which regional propane production is being increasingly diverted to direct export or in-region use (such as by the HPC), and away from rail exports to the U.S. In turn, the complex will be producing 525 Mtpa (thousand metric tonnes per annum) of PP beads for petrochemical use in Western Canada or for export worldwide.
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About the song
“Tighten Up” was written by Archie Bell and Billy Butler, and was originally released as a single by Archie Bell and the Drells on the Houston independent label Ovide Records in October 1967. The origins of the song start with popular KCOH-AM Houston deejay and business entrepreneur Skipper Lee Frazer hearing a two-chord funk instrumental song being played in live shows and filling the dance floor by the TSU Tornadoes. He suggested Archie Bell add some vocalizations to the tune, and Bell, with the Drells and the Tornadoes, cut the song at Jones Town Studios in Houston. Produced by LJF Productions (Skipper Lee Frazer), the Ovide Records (Frazer’s label) version quickly became a hit in the Houston market, attracting the attention of Atlantic Records, which picked it up and released it on its label in April 1968. The record then went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Rhythm and Blues charts. It has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Personnel on the record were: the TSU Tornadoes, featuring Cal Thomas (guitar), Will Thomas (guitar), Jerry Jenkins (bass), Robert Sanders (organ), Dwight Burns (drums), Darryl Bursby (sax) and Clarence Harper (trumpet). The Drells featured: Archie Bell, James Wise, Willie Parnell and Billy Butler.
Due to the success of the single, Atlantic quickly released an album made up of songs from the Drells and Tornadoes’ Houston sessions. The Tighten Up album went to #15 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm and Blues Albums chart and #142 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Ironically, Archie Bell was serving in Vietnam as his records were on the charts. In 1968, due to an injury, Bell was reunited with his group, and the band recorded a new album with Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label, which produced their second hit single, “I Can’t Stop Dancing,” which went to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Archie Bell and the Drells were a rhythm and blues vocal group that formed in Houston in 1966. They were active from 1966 to 1980. The group released eight studio albums and 24 singles. Archie Bell has released one solo album and three singles.
