US propane, butane exports reach record highs

May 15, 2026 By LP Gas 0 Comments

(Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly)

U.S. propane and butane exports continued their upswings, setting records again in data tallied for 2025.

Propane exports averaged 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), the most since the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) began collecting this data in 1973. Exports rose 3 percent compared with the previous year.

Propane is consumed globally for space heating, and it’s increasingly used as a petrochemical feedstock, especially in Asia, among other uses, the EIA notes. Three of the top five destinations for U.S. propane exports are in Asia, including China, Japan and Korea.

Despite the overall increase, the top three Asian importers of U.S. propane decreased or had no change year over year. U.S. exports to South Korea decreased 20 percent, and volumes to Japan remained unchanged compared with the previous year. The largest importer of U.S. propane in the world, China, reduced U.S. propane receipts by 29 percent because of reciprocal tariffs on imported propane from the United States at the end of the year.

Decreases in U.S. propane exports to those countries were more than offset by increases in exports to other Asian countries, especially India, which increased from 2,000 bpd in 2024 to 41,000 bpd in 2025, the EIA reports. Exports to other countries in Asia such as Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia increased by a combined 70,000 bpd. Increases in Europe, Latin America and Africa also contributed to the cumulative increase in U.S. propane exports.

In addition to propane, U.S. normal butane exports have increased every year since 2006, reaching a record-high average of nearly 535,000 bpd in 2025 – a 9 percent increase from the previous year, the EIA also reports. Butane is used as a cooking fuel, a petrochemical feedstock and a gasoline blendstock during the winter.

Overall, natural gas plant liquid (NGPL) exports reached 3.1 million bpd in 2025, growing 7 percent from the previous year. NGPL plant production has increased every year since 2005.

U.S. butane exports increased despite a 6 percent drop in exports to Morocco, the largest importer of U.S. butane at 65,000 bpd in 2025.

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