When you buy a propane company, you are really buying a book of customers. Those customers don’t see themselves as buying propane just from a company, however. They buy from people, namely employees.
FERC Approves Settlement In Long-Running TEPPCO Case
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a settlement favorable to the propane industry in a long-running TEPPCO rate case. The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) notes the May 31 judgment caps more than a year of effort to ensure just and reasonable rates on the pipeline, and that through the agreement the industry will enjoy rate certainty for shippers for the two-year duration of the agreement.
Energy Transfer Affiliates Move Forward with Exports-Imports
Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (Philadelphia), an affiliate of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, has secured long-term, fee-based agreements with Shell Trading (US) Co. (STUSCO, Houston) to proceed with an LPG export/import project. STUSCO has committed to the project, known as Mariner South, as an anchor customer.
Williams, Boardwalk, Form Joint Venture for Bluegrass Pipeline
Williams (Tulsa) and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (Houston) have formed a joint venture to continue the development of the Bluegrass Pipeline, a project that would transport NGLs from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to the petrochemical and export complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast, as well as the developing petrochemical market in the Northeast U.S.
Enterprise Hosts Open Season For ATEX Express Pipeline
Enterprise Products Partners LP (Houston) is hosting a binding open season through July 11 to determine shipper support for transporting propane to Mont Belvieu on the partnership’s Appalachia-to-Texas ATEX Express Pipeline. ATEX currently has long-term contracts in place for ethane transportation to Mont Belvieu. The addition of propane service will not affect Enterprise’s contractual obligations with existing ATEX ethane shippers.
Total U.S. inventories of propane increased 1.9 MMbbl the week ended May 31 to stand at 47 MMbbl, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) “This Week in Petroleum” report. The agency notes the nation’s stocks as of that reporting period the nation’s stocks were 10.9 MMbbl, or 18.8%, lower than during the same period a year ago.
Importance of Onshore Energy Development Reinforced at Hearing
Witnesses at a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing May 22 stressed the importance of onshore energy development for economic and job growth and energy security. The hearing outlined four bills that would streamline government red tape and expand development of U.S. onshore oil, natural gas, and renewable energy resources as part of an all-of-the-above approach to energy production.
House Bill Calls for Drilling Off Coast of Virginia
U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) has introduced the Virginia Jobs and Energy Act (H.R. 1782) to open the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Virginia for energy development. Original cosponsors of the bill include Reps. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Robert Hurt (R-Va.), and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.). Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and the state’s U.S. Senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, have signaled their support of similar legislation.
Witnesses Stress Importance Of Transboundary Agreement
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources in late April was examining steps needed for implementation and a legislative hearing on the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act (H.R. 1613). The legislation would implement the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs Agreement by lifting the current moratorium on drilling in the Western Gap area of the Gulf of Mexico.
Workdays see the chief inspector of the Nevada LP-Gas Board traveling in his service vehicle surveying LPG systems, containers, and equipment and conducting safety and training programs to fulfill the board’s mission—to protect the health, welfare, and safety of Silver State residents.
Lawn mowers and agricultural irrigation engines are great “load leveling” technologies for the propane industry because consumers and farmers use them primarily in the summer, which is the low point of the year in propane consumption.
Each week the Weekly Propane Newsletter brings its readers not only the latest posted and spot prices at all major terminals and refineries around the U.S., but a market analysis and commentary as well. Also featured is a center spread of posted prices, which includes hundreds of postings that are completely updated each week.
Air-operated hose reels on the back of propane delivery trucks are an emerging trend. Instead of an electric motor, drivers use the air from the air tanks on the truck to power an air motor to rewind the hose reel. The air-operated reels are among various items that Roger Smith calls “new old” products.
The timing was right as Tucker Perkins spoke to BPN on July 27 about the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) 8.0L propane bobtail project. That week, representatives from several companies involved in the project were in Colorado, putting the bobtail through performance, altitude, and load testing. A few months earlier, some of those representatives were in Minnesota, testing the vehicle’s cold weather performance.