Posts by Mark Rachal

Benchmarks and deciding when to ‘look before you leap’ Posted on 03 Aug 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Over the last few Trader’s Corners, we have established some benchmarks for crude and propane. We have discussed at length why we feel $40 is the price for West Texas... Read more»

Propane price pushes past previous benchmarks Posted on 28 Jul 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

As fate would have it, propane pushed above 50.2 percent of WTI crude and 48 cents over the past week. Read more»

Propane trends near 50 cents per gallon, 50 percent of WTI crude value Posted on 21 Jul 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Propane fundamentals changed in 2020, causing the inventory overhang to be eliminated and pushing propane to the 50/50 marks. Read more»

Crude demand expected to recover by 2022 Posted on 10 Jul 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Crude demand is expected to decline 8 percent this year, increase 6 percent next year and fully recover in 2022. Read more»

Propane production on rebound as refinery throughput increases Posted on 29 Jun 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

U.S. propane production has been on the rise over the past few weeks, putting a lid on propane prices. A key reason that propane inventories have dropped from over 19... Read more»

Propane pricing will hinge on crude production Posted on 23 Jun 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Producers voluntarily shut production during April, and the associated natural gas liquids loss dramatically impacted propane fundamentals. Read more»

Expectations for propane pricing relative to crude Posted on 10 Jun 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Mark Rachal looks at the relationship between propane and crude, and what to expect going forward based on that relationship. Read more»

Year-over-year increase in inventory, but prices on uptrend Posted on 04 Jun 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Over the past five weeks, propane production has been down. Mark Rachal takes a look at the scoreboard for U.S. propane inventory levels compared to prices. Read more»

Inventory builds begin lighter than previous year Posted on 27 May 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Inventory builds were late in starting this year, and now that they have, last week’s data showed they can be lighter than normal. Read more»

Comparing imports, exports and propane’s relative value to crude Posted on 12 May 2020 in the Blue Flame Blog categories.

Propane’s more supportive fundamental picture will keep it from falling to the extremely low values witnessed at the beginning of the year. Read more»