Current Trends in the Propane Market

As the time has passed since our initial lockdown for the Covid-19 pandemic, states and businesses have begun to reduce restrictions on travel, gatherings and events. This is happening just over a year after we saw the lowest price per barrel of crude oil in the nation’s history, bottoming out at around -$40.00/barrel. This drastic change in demand for fuel has caused an astronomical price increase as we’ve transitioned back into a world more akin to daily life before the breakout of the Covid-19 virus. 

While propane and crude oil prices aren’t directly correlated, it should be no surprise to you that the wholesale cost of propane has risen throughout the past 12 months as oil refineries reopen their plants to full capacity and attempt to satiate the rise in demand for fuel. Typically, we see a drop-off in propane prices throughout the summer months as a great majority of the country uses very little in comparison to the winter months. That is not the case this year. Over the past 6 months, we’ve seen a steady increase in wholesale propane prices of around 1-3%/week. This may not seem like much, but since June of last year, our cost of propane has risen over 125%.