By Ryan Dezember
U.S. propane exports rose to a record in April, eclipsing 2 million barrels a day for the first time, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.
Propane, which is a byproduct of natural-gas drilling and oil refining, is a crucial ingredient in making plastics as well as a fuel used for cooking, rural heating, drying crops, warming pools and powering forklifts. Easily bottled and shipped abroad, propane has been an unheralded but important American export ever since the shale-drilling boom flooded domestic markets.
The U.S. is far and away the world's largest propane supplier. Trade partners from Singapore to Spain gobble up tankers full of the fuel, with the largest volumes delivered to Japan, China and North Korea, mainly to feed petrochemical plants.
Despite the ever-bigger volumes being shipped overseas, domestic propane prices have remained relatively stable. Though Americans might get sticker shock when they buy meat for their July 4 cookouts, the fuel to grill it shouldn't cost much more than last year.
The price at the Mont Belvieu trading hub in Texas has been around 77 cents a gallon lately. That is about 1% higher than a year ago but below the five-year average price of about 87 cents.
Read more about how the U.S. became the world's most prolific energy exporter:
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