Natural gasoline is the most expensive natural gas liquid (NGL), accounting for more than 25% of the price-weighted NGL barrel (versus 10%-12% of the barrel by volume). It is also notoriously difficult to track, with similar products having different names and unclear demand segments. In fact, the difficulty tracking portions of demand, combined with an ongoing imbalance in crude oil supply/demand, led the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to change the way it accounted for natural gasoline demand, which made more than 200 Mb/d of production “disappear” in 2022. In today’s RBN blog, we look at natural gasoline’s primary uses and what was behind the EIA’s decision.
Natural Gas Liquids
It’s the most expensive NGL, accounting for more than 25% of the value of a weighted average barrel. It is the only NGL that does not require storage or transportation under pressure. And it’s the most misunderstood of the NGLs, going by different names depending on the market and geography, with a chameleon-like characteristic that allows it to be transformed into various products. And to further complicate matters, other petroleum liquids are similar to natural gasoline, but not identical. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll delve into the mysteries of natural gasoline and explore what makes it such a crucial component of the hydrocarbon landscape.
Starting on April 10, China will enact an 84% reciprocal tariff on imports of U.S. goods. This increase was in response to the 104% tariff that the U.S. placed on imports of Chinese goods, which was subsequently raised to 125% by President Trump on April 9. China is likely to retaliate further. Unlike China’s February retaliatory tariffs of 10%-15% on U.S. oil and LNG, this time NGLs and all energy products are included. These higher tariffs have the potential to destroy propane and ethane exports from the U.S. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the potential impact of China’s reciprocal tariffs on the propane and ethane markets.
More than 9 billion gallons of propane were delivered to U.S. consumer markets in 2024, primarily for residential heating and cooking. Demand is highly seasonal, which brings a unique set of challenges for buyers, especially on the wholesale side of the market, but production tends to be steadier over the course of the year. In today’s RBN blog, we show how wholesalers balance supply and demand and the critical role of the winter-to-summer ratio.
A half dozen large midstream companies provide the full gamut of “wellhead-to-water” services for Permian-sourced natural gas and/or NGLs, and a couple of those offer the same for crude oil as well. For Enbridge and Plains All American, the clear focus has been on crude — pipelines, storage and marine terminals — though Enbridge has been rapidly expanding its portfolio of Permian-to-Gulf gas assets too. In today’s RBN blog, we look at what Enbridge and Plains have and what they are planning.
Crude-oil-focused drilling and completion in the Permian Basin is generating fast-increasing volumes of associated gas — and creating opportunities for midstream companies that provide “wellhead-to-water” services for natural gas and NGLs. ONEOK has become a much bigger player in this space via several transformational acquisitions and MPLX has been making moves of its own. (The companies also are working together on a new LPG export terminal — and more.) In today’s RBN blog, we continue our review of Permian-to-Gulf midstreamers’ expansion plans with a look at what ONEOK and MPLX are up to.
The handful of midstream companies that provide a full range of “wellhead-to-water” services between the Permian and the Gulf Coast are in growth mode, advancing a long list of gas processing plants, takeaway pipelines, fractionators and export terminal expansions. Last time we looked at what Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer are up to. In today’s RBN blog, we shift our spotlight to what Targa Resources and Phillips 66 are planning, with Targa building a slew of projects and P66 growing primarily through organic opportunities that have arisen following recent bolt-on M&A.
More than 9 billion gallons of propane were delivered to U.S. consumer markets in 2024, primarily for residential heating and cooking. The final step in propane’s pathway to the retail market is managed by a large group of companies known as retailers, which range in size from “mom and pop” operations that run only a couple of cars serving a local market to companies with fleets of cars and multiple supply points. As we detail in today’s RBN blog, the propane business requires a huge focus on logistics and personal relationships.
In their first earnings calls of 2025, the handful of large midstream companies that provide the gamut of “wellhead-to-water” services in Texas laid out plans for yet another round of projects — everything from gas processing plants and takeaway pipelines to fractionators and export terminal expansions. At the same time, many of these same midstreamers expressed a degree of caution about overbuilding. They sought to reassure Wall Street that they were only approving plans underpinned by strong commercial support. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the latest capital spending plans of this select, upper tier of midstream service providers.
The decision by the U.S.’s largest independent propane wholesaler to exit the business serves as a reminder of the challenges and risks that companies like it face. The move also highlights the fact that at least some other independent wholesalers — including the presumed buyer of NGL Energy Partners’ propane-related assets — believe that by increasing their scale and scope they can compete more effectively with their two classes of competitors: affiliates of big midstream companies and affiliates of propane retailers. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss what the latest M&A activity in the propane space reveals.
It finally happened. And it’s a very big deal for MPLX and ONEOK, both of which have been working for years to become full-fledged members of the elite “NGL wellhead-to-water club.” But the companies’ announcements that MPLX will build two fractionators at the terminus of a new NGL pipeline from Sweeny to Texas City and that ONEOK and MPLX will joint build a new LPG export terminal nearby (and a new purity-product pipeline between Mont Belvieu and the terminal) doesn’t just fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle they’ve been assembling. The plans also will give Gulf Coast LPG exporters the additional capacity they desperately need and — no small thing — create another fractionation hub. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss what MPLX and ONEOK are planning and why it matters.
It finally happened. And it’s a very big deal for MPLX and ONEOK, both of which have been working for years to become full-fledged members of the elite “NGL wellhead-to-water club.” But the companies’ announcements that MPLX will build two fractionators at the terminus of a new NGL pipeline from Sweeny to Texas City and that ONEOK and MPLX will joint build a new LPG export terminal nearby (and a new purity-product pipeline between Mont Belvieu and the terminal) doesn’t just fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle they’ve been assembling. The plans also will give Gulf Coast LPG exporters the additional capacity they desperately need and — no small thing — create another fractionation hub. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss what MPLX and ONEOK are planning and why it matters.
The domestic U.S. propane market annually accounts for roughly 9 billion gallons of demand. The pathway from the wellhead to an end user is complex, involving pipelines, railcars, trucks and tankers, and wholesalers are essential in moving all that propane from fractionators and refineries to propane terminals. A wide variety of players fulfill this role, from large publicly traded companies to smaller private ones, but as we detail in today’s RBN blog, they all do one thing — move propane one step closer to its retail destination.
At first glance, you might think that Phillips 66’s newly announced, $2.2 billion plan to acquire the EPIC NGL pipeline system, two fractionators near Corpus Christi and other NGL-related assets in Texas is just another logical step in the expansion of P66’s “well-to-market” NGL strategy — and you’d be right. But the story is actually much more interesting, involving a long list of well-known midstream players and a long-running, still-evolving effort to dilute the Mont Belvieu NGL hub’s dominance. In today’s RBN blog, we spill the tea.
In 2024, more than 9 billion gallons of propane were delivered to U.S. consumer markets, primarily for residential heating and cooking, with substantial volumes supporting the commercial, industrial, agricultural and transportation sectors. It is a physically complicated business because, unlike electricity and natural gas, which are delivered through wires and pipelines, respectively, the vast majority of the propane used by U.S. consumers is delivered by some combination of pipelines, rail cars and, ultimately, trucks. How does that complicated supply chain work in real life? In today’s RBN blog, we begin a detailed look at the U.S. propane market.