Range Says Tariffs Aren’t Slowing LPG, Ethane Exports to Europe
Range Resources issued its first quarter 2025 update yesterday. Range produces a significant volume of NGLs (ethane and propane), in addition to methane (natural gas). Range CEO Dennis Degner told analysts yesterday that, no matter “how the tariff dust settles,” demand is expected to be “relatively strong” for its U.S. East Coast volumes of NGLs. Degner said that 80% of Range’s propane (LPG) production is exported by ship. “And all of it is going to Europe right now,” he said. “So we really don’t have a current exposure to the Chinese market.” Smart company. Read More “Range Says Tariffs Aren’t Slowing LPG, Ethane Exports to Europe”
In what has to be the stupidest trade move in history, China will enact an 84% reciprocal tariff on imports of U.S. goods beginning today. The increase was in response to a 104% tariff that the U.S. placed on imports of Chinese goods, which President Trump raised to 125% yesterday. China will LOSE this trade war. However, if the Chinese want to self-immolate their economy and persist with the tariff war, it has the potential, according to RBN Energy, of “destroying” propane and ethane exports from the U.S. Why? 
LPG, or liquefied petroleum gas, is known by the more common name of propane. Propane is an NGL (natural gas liquid). Propane is a byproduct of drilling for oil and natural gas. In fact, according to a new article in LPGas magazine, it’s a misconception to say companies drill for oil or natural gas. The more accurate description is that drillers drill for hydrocarbons because every hole they sink brings multiple hydrocarbons out of the ground, including crude oil (or condensate), methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), and other hydrocarbons like pentane, butane, and others. It would be accurate to say drillers primarily drill for single hydrocarbons, namely crude oil and/or natural gas. However, other hydrocarbons, including propane, come out of the ground as byproducts. 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was busy last Thursday during its latest open meeting. Not only did the commissioners approve an expansion for Elba Island LNG, they also approved a meter station project that will connect the Rover pipeline in Washington County, PA, to Energy Transfer’s Revolution Cryogenic Facility, a facility that extracts natural gas liquids (NGLs) from field gas and partially fractionates mixed NLGs to produce natural gas products like ethane. 
U.S. ethane production increased steadily over the last decade and reached a record of 3.0 million barrels per day (b/d) in May 2024. Ethane production in the first half of 2024 (1H24) averaged a record 2.8 million b/d, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Petroleum Supply Monthly. Ethane production in the Marcellus/Utica region (called the Appalachian No. 1 refining district), which straddles most of the Appalachian Basin production area in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, increased during 1H24, averaging 327,000 b/d, up from 292,000 b/d in 1H23. 
UGI, a diversified energy company with midstream (pipeline) operations in the Marcellus and one of PA’s largest utility companies, hinted last summer that it was looking to sell or spin off its propane subsidiary into a new company (see 
Last November, MDN warned you about delays with LPG (propane) and LNG ships transiting the Panama Canal (see 
Three weeks ago, MDN warned you about delays with LPG (propane) and LNG ships transiting the Panama Canal (see 
Although we have a companion story from today’s lineup that criticizes the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for its powers to predict the future (see EIA Consistently Underestimates NatGas Needed for Power Generation), the EIA is unparalleled in its tracking and reporting of historical energy data. The expert number crunchers of the EIA recently turned their eyes on U.S. petroleum exports and found that these types of exports (including NGLs) set a new record high in the first half of 2023.
On February 14, 2022, Energy Transfer Marketing & Terminals, L.P. (ETMT) applied to expand the company’s ethane chilling capacity at the Marcus Hook Terminal (MHT) from approximately 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) to approximately 85,000 bpd. Because the facility is located in a so-called Environmental Justice (EJ) area, the DEP is conducting an even more painful anal exam (than usual) before issuing a permit for the expansion. Part of that examination will be a public hearing on Sept. 19, 2023, in Boothwyn, PA, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.