Propane Industry News

July 18, 2016 — Chicago, Illinois-based Energy Distribution Partners (“EDP”) is pleased to announce that Mark Crone has joined the company as General Manager for Lyons LP Gas, which serves residential, commercial and agricultural customers in Ohio and Michigan. In addition to maintaining the current residential and agriculture markets in the service areas, Crone will be responsible for growing the company’s industrial and commercial business segments. Lyons LP Gas was acquired by EDP in May of 2016.

(Napa Valley, Calif.) July 13, 2016 — The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) at its July 12, 2016 meeting in Napa, Calif. approved an assessment increase from 0.4 cents per gallon to 0.45 cents per gallon.

(Warren, Michigan) July 7, 2016 – It is with profound sadness that we inform you that our longtime friend, colleague and mentor, Dan Blake, passed away suddenly on June 25, 2016. Dan was vice president of Jomar Group and a well-known figure in the propane industry. He travelled the country for nearly 40 years, not just calling on customers but also his friends.

On Tuesday, June 26, 2016, the Panama Canal Authority opened a third set of locks that will double its capacity and allow the transit of larger ships, the first such expansion since the canal was completed in 1914, notes the Energy Information Administration (EIA). However, because of the economics of shipping, trade patterns, and the types of ships used to transport crude and petroleum products, the latest expansion is expected to have limited effect on most petroleum markets.

The propane industry has been experiencing a shortage of qualified bobtail drivers for years, a trend that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, writes Stuart Flatow, vice president of safety and training at the Propane Education & Research Council. The propane industry is not alone. In fact, there is, and has been, a shortage of all kinds of qualified over-the-road drivers nationwide.

An affiliate of Enterprise Products (Houston) is selling rail terminals located in the Western U.S. Details of the transactions were not released. United Pacific Energy (Reno, Nevada) has entered into an agreement for the purchase of Enterprise’s Bakersfield, Calif. LPG rail terminal.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is calling on the Obama administration to maintain and promote U.S. oil and natural gas development through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) 2017-2022 offshore program.

The U.S. remained the world’s largest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2015, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates. U.S. petroleum and natural gas production first surpassed Russia in 2012, and the nation has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2011 and the largest producer of petroleum hydrocarbons since 2013.

Researchers at the University of Manchester and Imperial College in England have edited the genome of an algae enzyme and produced propane. e researchers are reported to have made signi cant advances in the search to develop a way of making renewable propane through bioengineering, a promising economic prospect that is also good for the environment.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a safety advisory regarding pressure-relief devices that were not manufactured or intended for use on cargo tank motor vehicles. In 2013, Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Inc. issued a voluntary recall on Fisher pressure-relief device models H732 and H832. In 2014, the recall was expanded to include models H282, H882, H5112, and H8112.

VERTICAL DISPENSER TANK. The new vertical Trinity Dispenser Tank from Bergquist Inc. provides numerous advantages that a traditional horizontal tank can’t offer, according to the company. The skid-mounted unit requires less space, giving marketers more room for additional tanks and other propane accessories.

Randy Camp, manager of CoEnergy Propane (Albany, Ore.), has been appointed to the Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) Board of Education. Camp has been a member of the LBCC Foundation Board, and was involved in helping LBCC’s Advanced Transportation Technology Center to obtain the equipment and funds to move forward.

The Colorado Supreme Court May 2 blocked efforts by some Front Range cities to impose limits, moratoriums, and bans on energy development through hydraulic fracturing, ruling the state holds ultimate regulatory authority and trumps local legislation, which the court characterized as “invalid and unenforceable.” The court rejected a five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing passed by the city of Fort Collins, concluding the measure operationally conflicted

Acknowledging what is already widely known among propane marketers, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that above-normal temperatures during the 2015-2016 winter were a key factor in lowering heating demand and winter fuel expenditures. Compared with the 2014-2015 winter, propane demand fell 16% and fueloil by 45%. Residential electricity demand decreased 6%.

The United States and Canada will require annual average midstream natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids midstream infrastructure investment of about $26 billion a year, or $546 billion over the 21-year period from 2015 to 2035, a new study finds.

The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) reports more than 4100 were in attendance at its 69th Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo in Nashville, Tenn. April 8-10. The tally broke a previous record set in 2006 and resulted in the ninth consecutive increase for the annual event, held this year at Music City Center. Attendance by propane marketers grew by more than 35%, while supplier participation was up by 22%.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee April 27 approved an amendment to H.S. 5050, the Pipeline Safety Act of 2016, to include a study of regulations affecting propane jurisdictional systems, reports the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA). The amendment, offered by committee chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), was approved by a voice vote and included in the passage of H.R. 5050.

The Texas Panhandle, a center of American oil since early in the 20th century, is answering OPEC and Saudi Arabia with a call for a presidential proclamation to establish quotas on imports of foreign oil. Supporters of such quotas are calling their campaign a counter to the recent Doha meeting of world producers that resulted in no output limitation agreements and a “line in the sand” against further price and supply wars by foreign suppliers.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is calling on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to follow its own procedures when promulgating rules, and is seeking suspension of a current rulemaking for revising commercial boiler efficiency standards until the established process is followed.

Propane exports from the U.S. dipped 4.5% in February to stand at 25,650,037 bbl, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), 1,194,945 bbl lower than the January total. Compared to the previous year, exports declined 0.3%, or 75,798 bbl, from the 25,574,239 bbl that left the nation’s shores.

The North Sea oil and gas industry has suffered a further blow after U.S. energy giant Conoco Phillips threatened to pull the plug on a key pipeline. The future of the Lincolnshire gas pipeline and the Theddlethorpe gas terminal have been thrown into doubt after Conoco Phillips announced it was reviewing the two operations.