U.S. exports of natural gas liquids touch record high in April

Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney

Thu, May 8, 2025, 3:19 AM 3 min read

By Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney

HOUSTON (Reuters) -U.S. exports of earthy state liquids touched a grounds precocious successful April, adjacent arsenic a commercialized warfare betwixt the U.S. and China chopped shipments to the apical buyer, vessel tracking information showed.

The caller commercialized developments person threatened U.S. exports of earthy state liquids (NGLs), specified arsenic ethane, butane and propane, utilized to marque plastics and chemicals arsenic good arsenic for heating and cooking. U.S. exports person deed a caller precocious each twelvemonth since 2010 acknowledgment to an abundance of inexpensive shale earthy gas.

NGLs, chiefly extracted from earthy earthy state during processing, are the latest vigor products ensnared successful the escalating commercialized warfare betwixt the world's 2 largest economies.

Nearly fractional of U.S. ethane exports spell to China, and each of China's ethane imports travel from the U.S. with practically nary options for alternate sources, according to the statistical limb of the U.S. government. Chinese petrochemical firms usage it arsenic feedstock due to the fact that it is simply a cheaper than alternate naphtha, portion U.S. lipid and state producers request China to bargain their earthy state liquids arsenic home proviso exceeds demand.

The U.S. exported astir 2.9 cardinal barrels per time (bpd) of NGLs successful April, a grounds high, information from vessel tracking firms Kpler and Vortexa showed.

But exports to China fell 35% to 619,000 bpd successful the month, Kpler information showed, the lowest since November 2023. China waived the 125% tariff connected ethane imports from the U.S. imposed earlier this month, 2 sources told Reuters this week.

Other countries accrued their purchases of U.S. NGLs successful the planetary rerouting, making up for the U.S.'s nonaccomplishment of Chinese buying.

India much than tripled its acquisition to a grounds precocious of 179,000 barrels per day, Kpler information showed.

Brazil much than doubled its purchases to 113,000 bpd, the highest successful 5 years, portion Japan, the 2nd largest purchaser of U.S. earthy state liquids, stepped up shipments by 64% to astir 400,000 bpd, the highest since February 2023.

U.S. accumulation of ethane volition emergence 3.6% to 2.9 cardinal bpd this year, the Energy Information Administration forecast, adding that astir of this maturation successful accumulation volition beryllium exported to proviso increasing planetary demand.

"The marketplace has already gone to enactment rerouting barrels betwixt the world's biggest liquefied petroleum state (a premix of propane and butane) suppliers, the U.S. and the Middle East, and the biggest importing countries being China and India," said Jim Teague, co-chief enforcement serviceman Enterprise Products Partners, 1 of the apical exporters of U.S. earthy state liquids, successful a quarterly net call.