Conway Spots Rise, Mont Belvieu Dips

Spot propane at Conway, Kan. Tuesday, Nov. 25 was sustaining its strengthening and climbed another 1.25 cents compared to the Monday email Update as the nation headed into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Monday saw Midwest spots rise 1.626 cents, this after the market plunged nearly a dime late the previous week. Meanwhile, the most recent gain has stretched Conway’s premium to Mont Belvieu out to 3 cents. That advantage had shrunk to 1.25 cents Monday.

Mont Belvieu spots Tuesday dipped a half cent from Monday trading. Monday saw prices rise 2 cents from late the previous week to recapture a bit of the 4.625- to 4.75-cent losses that hit the market then. Propane values were getting little support from crude oil as market watchers gloomily noted there was little indication OPEC members would agree to cut production to boost prices when they were scheduled to meet Thursday in Vienna. Although early trading on NYMEX Tuesday had crude gaining 75 cents, or 1%, to stand at $76.53/bbl, that price tumbled later in the session and fell $1.25, or 1.6%, to $74.53/bbl. News reports said a meeting prior to the OPEC gathering involving officials from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Russian oil giant OAO Rosneft produced no agreement to cut production.

The Group 140 (Conway) bid and offer mid-morning Tuesday stood at 78.00-79.50 cents/gal., higher by 1.25 cents for buyers and 1.75 cents for sellers from Monday. Low and high deals done as of then were reported at 77.00 and 79.50 cents.

Mont Belvieu non-LST spots were at 75.00-76.25 cents/gal., off a half cent for buyers but unchanged for sellers. Low and high trades were posted at 76.25 and 76.75 cents. LST propane was trading just a bit narrower at 75.00-76.00 cents/gal., down that same 0.5 cents for buyers but lower by a quarter cent for sellers. Low and high deals as of mid-morning were at 75.00 and 76.875 cents.

On the Canadian side, Edmonton propane was trading lower and narrower at 52.25-53.00 cents/gal. Spots in that market gave up 0.75 cents for buyers and 4 cents for sellers between the two trading days. At the same time, Sarnia spots, at 93.00-95.50 cents/gal., were unchanged for buyers but higher by 2 cents for sellers.

Elsewhere, NYMEX natural gas futures added to Monday’s decline Tuesday and fell more than 7 cents, or 1.6%, to $4.232/MMBtu, pressured by warmer weather. With energy markets looking to the weather for support, a fast-moving storm was forecast to sweep through the Plains, Midwest, and East through the middle of the week. Plenty of Turkey Day cold with highs in the single digits and teens was predicted for holiday football games unfortunate enough to be contested in open stadiums.