Top 10: The best of Trader’s Corner 2024

Trader’s Corner, a weekly partnership with Cost Management Solutions, analyzes propane supply and pricing trends. This week, we look back at the top Trader’s Corners of the year.

Catch up on last week’s Trader’s Corner here: Propane’s strong ties to midstream processes

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Last year at this time, we started something new, looking back at the top 10 Trader’s Corners of the year to reveal the topics that readers found most interesting. We did this by ranking articles that garnered the most page views on the LP Gas website.

As another year comes to a close, we present the top Trader’s Corner articles of 2024, again ranked by page views. Most of these articles were written by Mark Rachal of LP Gas partner Cost Management Solutions (CMS).

If there’s a topic that you’d like for us to cover in 2025, please email me at brichesson@northcoastmedia.net. We hope you and your families enjoy the holidays.

10. Hot topic: Natural gas production

Report date: April 8, 2024
This report focused on a significant fall in natural gas prices and the response by some producers to curtail production at a time when natural gas inventories were surging. The report also explained why the relationship between natural gas and propane is a “two-edged sword.” Read more: Natural gas production slowing

9. Hot topic: Propane values and prices

Report date: Jan. 16, 2024
This report was a follow-up to the one written on Jan. 5 and released on Jan. 8. The concern at the time was that propane was undervalued, and there was fear that incoming weather would jolt the market into realizing its undervalued nature, resulting in a significant bump in prices. Read more: Propane market reacts as feared

8. Hot topic: Propane production

Report date: April 1, 2024
A winter storm in January had a big impact on propane production. A drop in production caused more calls on inventories, resulting in some price support. After production recovered, it hit the highest level of 2024. The 2.660-million-barrel-per-day rate of production was just 27,000 barrels off the record high set in August 2023. Read more: Propane production recovers to near-record levels

7. Hot topic: Propane prices

Report date: Sept. 16, 2024
This report was noteworthy for a couple of reasons. We got to learn about writer Mark Rachal’s first attempt at skiing while living in Colorado. Then he shifted the report’s attention to another kind of slope – a propane price slope that had been a joy to run for propane buyers. Read more: Propane prices head to the slopes

6. Hot topic: Propane supply and demand

Report date: March 4, 2024
This Trader’s Corner looked at the key components of propane supply and demand to show the significance of the imbalance between supply and demand in the U.S. Read more: US is oversupplied with propane

5. Hot topic: Propane demand

Report date: Feb. 20, 2024
When this report was published, demand for U.S. propane had been at record highs. A combination of strong domestic demand and exports also resulted in a massive drawdown in propane inventories. The report also explored new developments that could impact these fundamentals. Read more: Propane demand continues at record high

4. Hot topic: Propane-buying plans

Report date: April 15, 2024
This report ran some numbers to show how 2023-24 was not a particularly good winter “if your livelihood depends on selling Btus.” But as they do every year at this time, propane retailers will turn their attention to preparing their supply portfolios for next winter and beyond. The report used current data and buying strategies to form retailers’ plans for the coming months. Read more: Looking forward to next winter and beyond

3. Hot topic: Propane market swings

Report date: Feb. 5, 2024
Are propane prices getting away from buyers, or does it just feel that way? After a significant rise in January prices, which continued higher in February with inventory draws in support, this Trader’s Corner worked to answer that question. Read more: Propane market reaches normalization

2. Hot topic: Forward price curves

Report date: May 13, 2024
A decline in prices was a welcome development for propane buyers as prices came down into a favorable buy zone. This Trader’s Corner reviewed forward price curves and their benefit to propane buyers. Read more: Downtrend favors propane buyers

1. Hot topic: Weather

Report date: May 20, 2024
Talk of La Niñas and hurricanes took the No. 1 spot this year – overwhelmingly. We reported on the weather events for the coming year, citing AccuWeather, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and WeatherBELL Analytics. We also quoted Joe McGinn, a councilor with the Propane Education & Research Council, who shared how his company, Energy Transfer, monitors these developments. Read more: Expected La Niña could heighten hurricane season

All charts courtesy of Cost Management Solutions

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