Propane prices retreat but still are unusually high; distribution troubles mount
Source: Omaha World Herald
By Russell Hubbard
Disruption continues in the market for propane gas, the heating fuel for thousands in Nebraska and Iowa, with higher-than-normal prices, long waits for truckers at distribution hubs and no relief in sight from Mother Nature.
Prices began to rise dramatically 70 percent over one weekend late last month. Reasons included a fierce cold snap depleting inventories that were already low from heavy fall use by farmers drying crops; curtailed pipeline capacity due to maintenance and conversion of the lines to carry other fuels; and higher exports in 2013.
This week, propane at the Conway, Kan., hub was quoted at an average wholesale price of $2.45 a gallon, down by more than half from about $5 a gallon in late January, but still a little less than three times the 85 cents a gallon quoted a year ago. Prices at the Kansas hub serving the Midwest are at about a 92-cent premium to those at Mont Belvieu, Texas, the U.S. propane distribution and storage point for the Southern United States.
A year ago, the spread between the Midwestern and Southern hubs was only about 3 cents, the big jump illustrating the shortage and high prices in the nation's center.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20140204/MONEY/140209553/1697#propane-prices-retreat-but-still-are-unusually-high-distribution-troubles-mount
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)JackInGreen
(2,975 posts)I came in here SPECIFICALLY to see how long it would take before a Hank Hill reference, and you have not disappointed.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)And I love the Hank Hill image I found.
Sassysdad
(65 posts)(Montgomery Co.) it doesn't matter if you have a 100gal tank or a 1000 gal...my supplier is rationing to just 60% as opposed to a "full" 80%...
WhiteTara
(29,728 posts)last week when it was $2.449 a gallon. Darn.
NickB79
(19,274 posts)Last week, one of my coworkers was bitching because he was quoted $4.99/gal!
Thankfully, we have a woodstove as well, and have added a shitload of insulation to the house the past few years, so we won't need another fill until March, but god damn. I still turned down the thermostat a few degrees and broke out the electric space heater just to be safe.
DemoTex
(25,405 posts)That will last me a year, at least.
NickB79
(19,274 posts)And the windchill is down to -40F
I'm tempted to let the company I lease my 500-gal. tank from take it back and buy a 1000-gal. one instead. It would be a bitch to fill, but it would last me forever so long as I keep weatherizing our house and burning firewood.