Propane shortage eases, prices fall

INDIANAPOLIS – After weeks of propane shortages and high prices during the bitterly cold winter, some relief is coming to rural residents who have dealt with chilly homes and frustrations keeping their heating tanks filled.

Residential propane prices have fallen for a second straight week, down from about $4 a gallon in late January to $3.76 a gallon Monday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its weekly report.

Supplies of the fuel that 5.5 million U.S. households, mostly in the Midwest and South, use for heating have improved slightly due to efforts by the propane industry, the federal government and states. But the nation’s propane supply remains low, and more blasts of winter cold would quickly send prices back up, said Roy Willis, president and CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council.

“It’s really a weather-driven issue – another prolonged cold snap could strain supplies and prices for the next couple of months. Winter isn’t done with us,” he said Thursday.

National propane supplies were depleted by a late harvest that increased demand from farmers who needed to dry an unusually large amount of grain before storage. The colder-than-normal winter across much of the nation drained supplies further.

Willis said propane supplies have been replenished somewhat, helping lower prices slightly in the last couple of weeks, due to a collaboration between the government and industry to move supplies from large propane storage areas, primarily in the South, into the Northeast and Midwest. Propane shipments from North Africa and Europe have also helped, he said.