Energy Center Missouri's Total Bill for Propane at a Glance

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Missouri’s Total Bill for Propane at a Glance

Missouri’s Total Bill for Propane, 1999

Outside the transportation sector, the most important petroleum-based fuel is propane. Propane expenditures constitute about 41 percent of expenditures for petroleum outside the transportation sector. In 1999, Missouri ranked ninth among all states in residential expenditures for propane.
Missouri’s residential sector accounts for about 61 percent of total state expenditures for propane. Many Missouri households that rely on the fuel for space and water heating. About 7 percent of the Missouri residential sector’s total energy bill is for propane.
Agriculture and industry are the other major users of propane in Missouri.

Increases in Missouri’s Total Bill for Propane, 1990-1999

End user expenditures for propane in 1999 were about 65 perent higher than in 1990 but were lower than during the preceding two years.
As with natural gas, residential and agricultural demand and expenditures for propane varies with the weather.
Expenditures for propane, like those for electricity and transportation fuels, trended upward in the 1990s. The state’s propane bill was about 65 percent higher in 1999 than in 1990. . However, as the area chart makes clear, this should not be visualized as a simple linear increase. Propane expenditures increased from 1990 until 1996, decreased for two years and increased again in 1998-99.
Propane expenditures are variable due to a number of unpredictable factors that affect propane demand, supply and price. The demand pattern for propane is highly seasonal. Residential demand peaks during the winter heating season and the major agricultural use for propane, crop drying, occurs in the Fall. Demand increases about 50% from its low point to its peak. Both residential and agricultural demand for propane depends heavily on weather. Moreover, adequate inventories entering the heating season are critical to keep prices from increasing sharply. Price volatility can be induced by swings in the price of crude oil as well as changes in demand due to unusually mild or severe weather.
Additional information on factors affecting propane demand, supply and prices is available online. During the winter heating season, the Energy Center surveys propane retailers and reports price information in bimonthly Energy Bulletins