Propane Prices Follow Crude Oil
Notes:
Prices are one of the first signals in deciphering what is happening in the market.
This chart shows propane prices (both spot and retail) as well as spot heating oil and crude. As you can see, most prices track the price of crude oil; when crude oil goes up so do product prices. Hence, crude oil is the major driver behind product price swings.
Propane prices move with the heating fuels in the winter months, and competes with both crude-based and natural gas-based fuels in the petrochemical market during the summer. Propane tends to follow petroleum product markets; however, because there are different sectors competing for demand of propane, price movements can be more exaggerated.
Propane spot prices at Mt. Belvieu currently stand at 54 cents per gallon.