Propane prices?

I usually contract our heating propane (850 gal.) and have normally came out on top. Well, this past fall they wanted $1.699/gal. to contract and at that time it was only $1.499 off the truck so I simply topped off both tanks...500 gal. tank for house and 250 gal. tank for the shop/garage. As you are aware this winter has been dramatically colder than normal thus we have used significantly more propane plus there is somewhat of a propane shortage (real or imagined). I just called to make sure that they filled both tanks before we leave for Florida next week and the current price is a whopping $2.69/gal.! So much for not contracting. :-(

This is in SE Iowa where propane is normally reasonably priced. Anyone else have any recent prices?

Reply to
IGot2P
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The local newspaper had a story on this today. From the article:

U.S. supplies of propane have fallen to the lowest level for January since 2001 as the country is shipping record levels of propane and propylene abroad from new export terminals on the Gulf Coast.

Spot propane at the Conway, Kan., trading hub jumped 70 cents to $2.45 a barrel, the highest since at least January 2008. Wholesale prices at the Mid-America Pipeline Co. terminal in Conway ranged from $2.16 to $2.62 a gallon, the most in records going back to 2007.

?Two months ago, I would have told you the United States had the lowest propane price in the world except for Saudi Arabia,? Joe Rose, president of Propane Gas Association of New England, said. ?Now in the last week, that price has just gone crazy.?

It's bad for the US consumer, but it's good for the US balance of trade.

Reply to
Moe DeLoughan

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Reply to
krw

Very interesting article. I was surprised that only 14 million families across the U.S. use propane to fuel their furnaces, figured it was more than that. Of course living in the boonies you tend to forget that most larger areas have natural gas.

We am definitely going to conserve propane as we turn the thermostats down to around 50 degrees F when we are out of state.

Thanks for the link.

Reply to
IGot2P

It may be good for the US balance of trade but it is not good for me! :-)

Reply to
IGot2P

I know a couple people who heat with propane. That's got to hurt.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

So buy more at Walmart to balance things out. ;-)

Reply to
krw

Seems high to me. Assume 100M "families" (350M people/3 per). That would be 14% heat with LP. I'm surprised there are that many without other options.

From 2000 (couldn't find 2010) the census:

"units" Nat LP Elec Oil Coal Wood Other None gas gas US 105K 51.2% 6.5% 30.3% 9.0% 0.1% 1.7% 0.4% 0.7%

I'm sure wood has increased since '00, as has gas to a lesser extent (permanent heating plants last longer).

Interesting historical info:

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Careful about your plumbing. Make sure the cabinets under sinks on exterior walls are open, etc.

I just happened to have tripped across it earlier today.

Reply to
krw

Received a 200 gallon fill yesterday for 2.10/gallon. Same as it has been all season.

Reply to
Arthur Conan Doyle

Tonight's CBS Evening News had a lead-off story about propane and shortages and prices.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Well, I got a delivery of approximately 250 gal. and although still quite high it was a pleasant surprise from what the lady on the phone told me. $2.399/gal. or $2.299/gal. with "quick pay" discount which we always do.

Reply to
IGot2P

Yeah. In central Florida, $5.00+ per gallon last time I looked which is several months ago. They screw us here.

Reply to
dadiOH

I thought the US was supposed to have plenty of petroleum resources, of our own. Wonder why we've got a shortage of petroleum? You think someone is not approving permits or building refineries?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Frolm what I saw on the news there was a large ammount of corn (think that is correct) and they use propane to dry it or something. Should make them use the eathenol like in the gas for cars. This used a lot of propane, and now the winter is much colder than in the past. Kind of two things comming together and not enough propane has been processed for the needs.

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Reply to
Ralph Mowery

I have known of farmers to use propane for drying, so that's very possible reason. Thank you, I didn't know that.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Yea - you think that because of what the nice blonde lady tells you in her TV commercials for the API (American Petroleum Institute).

But you didn't listen closely enough.

She said that there is lots of oil and natural gas in NORTH America.

Meaning USA + Canada.

Because Obama isin't going to approve the XL Pipeline from Alberta. He's not going to because he listens to what Warren Buffet tells him to do. Warren wants to transport Canadian oil using rail tanker cars - which travel through your neighborhood and have a habbit of derailing and causing their load of explosive Baaken oil to explode.

Ah - I see that you're well informed of the situation.

Reply to
Home Guy

Like Real Estate, with Gasoline, Diesel oil, Fuel Oil, Natural gas, and Electricity, it is 'location, location, location'. For me, my last week propane delivery was $3.949 a gallon.

21.1 gallons came to $64.34.
Reply to
willshak

The US Energy Adminstration publishes pricing data. It's useful as a guide but YMMV. Propane has gone through the roof in most parts of the country:

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Reply to
Arthur Conan Doyle

Thanks for the link, it was appreciated.

Don

Reply to
IGot2P

You're welcome. There's some really interesting data there. Last week alone, the wholesale price jumped up 40 cents a gallon. There's also a huge spread between wholesale and retail prices, but I haven't dug into it deep enough to see if that's historical or recent.

Reply to
Arthur Conan Doyle

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