December 2011 Frac Spread: Conway Margins Struggle Compared To Mont Belvieu

摘要

The final month of 2011 was a rough period for Conway NGL frac spread margins as the hub continues to suffer price regressions because of the lack of capacity out of the play and into other markets. The lone exception to this was butane, which saw prices increase throughout the month as several traders were caught short of the NGL and heavily increased demand at both Conway and Mont Belvieu. In addition, butane benefitted from both increased LPG and butylene demand. These factors helped increase the margin for butane 16% at Conway and 10% at Mont Belvieu in December.