Spot January propane was trading at $3.95/gal early Monday at the Conway, Kansas, NGL trading hub, some 6 cents lower than Friday's assessment.
Conway propane was assessed nearly $1/gal lower than on Thursday on Friday at $4.01/gal as long position holders took advantage of record-high prices to book some profits.
"Someone found some barrels over the weekend," an NGL trader said.
Conway propane saw an all-time price peak of $4.95/gal on Thursday following a bearish stock report. US propane and propylene stocks fell 3.34 million barrels to 35.26 million barrels for the reporting week ended January 17, Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday.
The draw surpassed market expectations for a 2.9 million-barrel fall in inventories, sources said.
Propane at the Midcontinent NGL center has been on an unprecedented run since the start of the year on storage supply tightness.
Prices have climbed from $1.4250/gal at the start of the year.
The catalyst for lower stocks and higher prices are manifold, but the most significant factors have been unrelenting cold weather and an increase in export volumes over the past year.
Market participants are expecting another large propane storage draw this week following the latest arctic weather in the Midwest, the Midcontinent and on the East Coast.
