RBN’s Daily Energy Blog and Insights sharpen your energy IQ through fundamentals-based analysis that makes sense of North America’s energy market dynamics.
Most of the increase in U.S. propane production in recent years has come from plants processing natural gas to extract natural gas liquids (NGLs). The rich (wet) gas those plants process is either produced with crude as associated gas or from wet gas wells that target NGLs.
Our recent analysis of Houston area crude infrastructure found new pipelines running half full as more capacity comes online and storage only half utilized as midstream operators continue to plan expansions.
Projected growth in U.S. methanol production was based in large part on the expectation that domestic natural gas prices would remain significantly lower (on a per-MMBtu basis) than the price of crude oil, and that Asian demand for U.S.-sourced methanol would continue rising at a fast clip.
Even as Houston area crude oil storage – at refineries and commercial terminals – remains just half utilized according to data from Genscape, midstream operators are busy building more tanks.
Over the past two years, propane production has grown like crazy, and in several past blogs we’ve discussed the impact of those increased supplies on exports. That has been a very big deal for propane markets.
For the past several months shippers in Midland, TX – in the middle of the prolific Permian Basin - have been paying premiums up to $2/Bbl over the benchmark Cushing, OK trading hub price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude.
The U.S. natural gas market has been dogged all summer by uncertainty on both sides of the supply-demand equation and a looming threat of storage constraints and supply congestion by the end of the gas storage injection season.
Mexico has become an important market for U.S. natural gas exports, and it is now opening up as a market for U.S.-sourced crude oil exchanges.
The Crude Voyager is a weekly analysis of U.S. Gulf Coast loading activity that explains the ebbs and flows of crude loadings, destinations, and geopolitical issues impacting U.S. exports. It outlines the major paths for laden tankers hauling U.S. crude all over the world and reflects the change in tanker departures to the main regions that consume U.S. crude.
Close analysis of Houston area crude storage indicates it is only 52% utilized today even as regional crude inventories have reached record levels.
There are only three more days to take advantage of the Early Bird Rate for RBN’s next School of Energy, and there are three more reasons to attend! We have finalized the agenda for the first day we are calling Pre-School International Energy Day, with three additional experts joining us to
