US propane and propylene stocks rose 1.14 million barrels in the week ended September 11, which was 925,000 barrels higher than in the prior week, when stocks were up 212,000 barrels, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday.
The jump in the weekly stocks build was primarily due to the Midwest, which saw regional stocks increase 304,000 barrels, compared to a 913,000-barrel decline in the prior week.
Midwest stocks currently stand at 26.71 million barrels, the first time they have fallen below the previous year’s stock level in a week-to-week comparison.
Midwest stocks stood at 27.35 million barrels at the end of the 37th week last year.
Gulf Coast stocks rose 230,000 barrels to 61.15 million barrels.
A lower stocks build or a decline in stocks in the Midwest during the injection season, or before the period of peak winter demand, normally means products move to the south, but the average weekly build during the previous three weeks was 155,666 barrels in the Gulf Coast.
Seasonal demand for propane for crop drying and heating normally picks up in October.
East Coast stocks rose 334,000 barrels to 5.6 million barrels. West Coast and Rockies stocks together rose 269,000 barrels to 4.25 million barrels.
Product supplied, or implied demand, fell 189,000 b/d week on week, or 16.24%, to 975,000 b/d in the week that ended September 11.
US stocks of propylene for nonfuel use rose 76,000 barrels week on week to 4.43 million barrels.
Imports in the most recent week fell 45,000 b/d to 82,000 b/d, while exports remained flat at 505,000 b/d.
