Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Aug 3, 2007, at 8:09 AM, Don Bowen wrote:

> If history is any guide look here:
> http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_propane.html
>
> Propane use and prices go up in fall as farmers use more for drying  
> grain
> then a bit more for the fall and winter heating season then fall  
> off again
> in spring and summer.

I talked at length with the manager at my closest supplier, in  
Gainesville, MO. She says that prices used to adjust seasonally but  
now do not. Here is another site with info:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/ 
propane_prices_brochure/propbro.html

Turns out that prices are tied pretty closely to crude oil prices.  
Propane is produced as a by-product in natural gas processing and  
petroleum refining. It is used in plastics manufacture and  
petrochemical production. Prices are also affected by supply source  
and transportation. Midwest and Gulf states appear to have lowest  
prices.

So it's a supply and demand crapshoot. Steve's peace-of-mind  
criterion is as sound as any economist's estimate.