How's the propane supply? Decent. (image: Sylvia Skea)
The clocks have turned forward an hour and spring begins in one week. And with the heating season winding down, the national propane supply looks adequate — certainly not overly stocked compared to past years, and not as lean as others. Though given the nasty winter we’ve just had, and the heavy thermostat use that usually follows, adequate isn’t that bad.
In the first week of March, the national stocks stood at 27 million barrels, according to the numbers from the Energy Information Administration. That’s down 46-percent since the first of the year, though the draw downs have slowed since the end of January. And judging by the inventories of past years, 27 million barrels at the start of March falls right in the middle.
What does this mean for the rest of the season? Again, it’s not quite a glut of LPG. Though as a general rule, suppliers don’t like to get stuck with too much propane when the weather turns warm. So barring unexpected hitches upstream, rising temperatures could keep propane prices soft as the heating season flickers out.