PAD District III Stocks (Gulf Coast)
Source: Energy Information Administration
Notes:
PADD 3 (the Gulf Coast) inventories, at the end of July, stood at 33.5 million barrels and are well above the normal range for this time of year.
Since we have a few months more to go until the beginning of the heating season, there is still time for the plentiful stocks in the Gulf Coast to find their way up into the Midwest.
Thus, even though propane stocks in the Midwest are low, this could easily not be the case by the beginning of the heating season.
One slight area of concern, however, is that the Texas Eastern Pipeline (TET) is experiencing brine problems due to heavy rains and record stock builds. To help alleviate the problem, some chemical companies are shifting their propane out of TET to other storage facilities. At this time we don’t feel that this will negatively affect the propane market this winter, but this could be something to keep an eye on.