Like A Box of Chocolates – The Condensate Dilemma – Part 2 Demand
Supplies from the three main branches of the US condensate family are increasing faster than demand can keep up. Field condensate production from shale basins is nearing 1 MMb/d - headed to 1.6 MMb/d by 2018. Plant condensate – aka natural gasoline - will increase from just over 0.3 MMb/d in 2013 to more than 0.5 MMb/d in 2018. Because field condensates cannot be exported to overseas markets, more of this material will be refined traditionally or using a splitter – pushing out existing refinery demand for natural gasoline and creating an excess of naphtha range material. Petrochemical demand for natural gasoline has dried up in the face of cheap ethane feedstocks. Canadian demand for natural gasoline as diluent will soak up some but not the entire natural gasoline surplus. With US gasoline demand declining, the only outlet for excess naphtha and natural gasoline will be more exports (beyond Canada). Today we look at changing condensate demand patterns.
