GPA PSNGL&LRG

Abstract

Scope: Introduction The 2014 Sales of Natural Gas Liquids and Liquefied Refinery Gases presents the results of the thirty-first annual survey jointly sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute (API), Gas Processors Association (GPA), National Propane Gas Association (NPGA), and Propane Education & Research Council (PERC). The total volumes are comparative to those published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in their 2014 Petroleum Supply Annual Report. The state volumes are estimated by API based on survey responses. EIA collects data on various elements of U.S. propane supply including 1) gas plant production, 2) refinery production, 3) inventory in primary storage, and 4) imports. However, EIA does not collect any data one element of supply including 1) inventory in secondary and tertiary storage. Inventory in secondary storage includes all product held in storage tanks by propane retailers. This uncounted supply is based on receipts from propane wholesalers or direct purchases from producers. Propane inventory in retailer secondary storage and is held for a few days or a few weeks pending delivery to customers. Each retail propane customer has a storage tank; tertiary storage is defined to be all inventory held in customer tanks. All propane held in retailer storage tanks or customer storage tanks will ultimately be consumed. Furthermore, all volumes of propane in retailer and customer storage tanks (production, primary inventory, imports) are captured by EIA’s data collection system and will not be returned (in any significant volumes) into the primary supply distribution system. However, a few petrochemical companies have private storage facilities. These facilities are generally underground salt cavern storage and are connected via pipeline to primary storage facilities, such as those in Mont Belvieu. Propane stored in private salt caverns may be returned to primary storage. When inventory from private salt cavern storage is returned to the primary distribution system and immediately sold into the market, the EIA data collection system will not capture these volumes in its annual summary of propane supply. In 2014, PERC receipts, raw survey data and other analyses indicated substantial volumes of uncounted supply were delivered into the primary distribution system and were immediately redelivered into the market. The results of the 2014 propane sales survey include an adjustment to U.S. propane supply statistics published by EIA in the Petroleum Supply Annual for 2014.