Unique and accurate NGLs monitoring gives advance notice of price moves

The US petrochemical industry has staged a remarkable revival in the wake of increased production of natural gas liquids from new shale gas fields. Genscape provides a unique window into the operations of this increasingly vibrant part of the economy.

Genscape’s patented in-the-field monitors track the flow of NGLs pipelines carrying purity grade (ethane, propane, butane, C5+) or NGL mix, also called Y grade.

Most of the monitored lines are centered on Mont Belvieu, North America’s largest storage and processing hub for natural gas liquids. It’s the main delivery point for physical NGLs and its operation largely determines the pricing for LPG futures contracts.   We also monitor a C5+ line carrying diluent to Canada.

Genscape provides NGLs traders, analysts, and other market participants with updates on the operational status of the fractionators at Mont Belvieu. These units, which separate NGLs mix into its purity grade components, lie at the heart of the gas liquids system in the US Gulf. Any disruption to the operations of these units ripples through the entire petrochemical feedstock complex and can affect the price of olefins, the building blocks of most plastics.