Companies want more ethane, but constraints abound

[thackney]

Companies want more ethane, but constraints abound
https://www.chron.com/business/article/Companies-want-more-ethane-but-constraints-abound-13326274.php
October 22, 2018

Petrochemical plants have been growing in places like Texas, but they may be outpacing the supply of one of their key ingredients, ethane.

While companies have invested billions into ethane crackers -- which transform ethane into the building blocks for plastics -- pipelines and processing plants have not kept pace with growing demand, leading to higher ethane prices for companies that consume it, according to a new report by research and consulting firm IHS Markit.

Ethane prices in Mont Belvieu -- a hub for petrochemical plants just east of Houston and the largest natural gas liquids storage site in the world -- peaked at nearly 62 cents a gallon in Sept., a nearly 250 percent increase than the average price seen in 2017, according to IHS Markit....

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I shoulda invested in ethane futures a couple of years back