Where on Earth is Our Propane Going?

The natural gas export debate remains pretty heated, especially with new export facilities being approved at a more rapid pace. At the same time, propane exports continue to slip out of the country with little fanfare. Where is all the propane going?

 

 

America is the propane export king
The U.S. is currently the world's top exporter of propane. It has surged past Middle Eastern rivals such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to take the top spot at more than 70 million barrels. That's well ahead of last year's more than 55 million barrels.

The company leading this surge is Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD ) . The midstream operator alone has exported nearly 60 million barrels of propane this year. It's not content with the status quo, either, continuing to ramp up export capacity and recently announcing another expansion at its LPG export facility in the Houston Ship Channel. The project, which won't be complete until 2015, adds another 1.5 million barrels per month of propane export capacity.

What's key here is that without Enterprise's export capacity, U.S. natural gas producers would be in trouble. As the following chart shows, without exports last year the U.S. would be significantly oversupplied with propane. Read more here.

AutoGas is Gaining Traction: Government Fleets

Law enforcement fleets, including police, security, and traffic enforcement vehicles, require a versatile, reliable fuel. Propane can meet the performance needs of high-mileage, high-runtime vehicles that range from large, powerful police cruisers to smaller, more maneuverable scooters. Law enforcement agencies, which often custom-order vehicles, can request dedicated propane vehicles or propane bi-fuel vehicles as part of their ordering process. Law enforcement fleet operations are also conducive to centralized propane refueling. Read more here.

Autoline to feature propane expert panel

This Saturday, the Autoline TV show will begin airing an expert panel on autogas use by fleets, featuring Denis Gallagher, CEO of Student Transportation of America, Abe Stephenson of Dish Network, and Edgar Benning of the Flint transit agency. Autoline is broadcast on PBS stations, and this show will be posted to its website on September 21.

The Schwan Food Company: A propane proponent for over 40 years

See the S2G at ICUEE!

Visit our partner, Freightliner Custom Chassis in booth N3106 at the ICUEE Expo in Louisville, to see the all new, propane S2G on display!

Report: Natural gas boom should last decades

A new report outlines that the huge economic benefits from America's natural gas boom should last several decades, and Louisiana, already benefiting, could see tens of millions of dollars and thousands of new jobs by 2025.

It's being called America's New Energy Future, shifting global competitiveness to the United States for manufacturing.

Natural gas liquids are a byproduct used in chemical production. Robust supplies of them, especially ethane will keep prices low, and drive more manufacturing back to the U.S. according to this new report from IHS, a global information company.

"It's a great opportunity for Louisiana, and for the country as a whole," says Martha Moore, senior director for policy and economics at the American Chemistry Council.  "Louisiana is already the second largest chemistry producing state with over $68 billion in output and we do anticipate that will grow substantially as these investments come on line."

The IHS report says there will be $100 billion in new investments producing over 300,000 new jobs nationally in the next twelve years. Read more here.

Adapting fuel cards to the alternative-fuel world

As natural gas and other alternative fuels begin to get a more in-depth look from the trucking industry, fuel card programs are being adapted to handle them as well, according to interviews with both fleet operators and fuel card providers.

“We are currently used by fleets to purchase many types of alternative fuels such as LNG [liquefied natural gas], CNG [compressed natural gas], propane, even for DEF [diesel exhaust fluid],” Randy Morgan, executive vp-- fleet for Comdata, told Fleet Owner.

“Our philosophy is that it doesn’t matter where the fleet purchases fuel – retail, mobile re-fuelers, or at their own terminals – or what type of fuel they purchase, be it gasoline, diesel, CNG, LNG, or propane,” he added. “We have a comprehensive solution allowing them to account for all fuel spend with one system and one card.” Read more here.