OREANDA-NEWS.  US EPC propane prices rose to 46?/USG ($240/t) after weekly data showed a 1.137mn bl build in US propane inventories.

The increase was in line with expectations, but a decline in crude stocks, and the resulting gains in WTI, pushed bids for propane higher.

Market participants surveyed expected a build of anywhere between 400,000 bl to 1.6mn bl.

At 97.693mn bl, propane inventories stand 46.08pc above the five-year average and 20.255mn bl above where inventories stood during the same week last year.

Inventories in the midcontinent rose by 304,000 bl compared to a 913,000 bl draw the previous week. PADD II inventories now stand at 26.708mn bl.

PADD III inventories rose by 230,000 bl to stand at a total 61.151mn bl.

Mont Belvieu, Texas, LST propane was sold early for 45.75?/USG and firmed to 46?/USG ahead of the EIA's

data. Following the release, propane immediately fell to a low of 45.5?/USG but ultimately rebounded to 46.5?/USG.

At the EPC terminal, propane also dipped to 45.5?/USG following the EIA's inventory report, but rebounded to 46?/USG. At Conway, Kansas, propane opened higher at 43.25?/USG and firmed to 44.5?/USG.

Along the eastern seaboard, inventories rose by 334,000 bl to 5.587mn bl, while in the West coast and Rocky Mountains regions, propane stockpiles rose by 269,000 bl to 4.247mn bl.

US propylene inventories at bulk terminals rose by 76,000 bl to 4.429mn bl, while propane/propylene supplied to end users fell by 189,000 b/d to 975,000 b/d.

Other NGL and olefins stocks, excluding propane and propylene, rose to 132.2mn bl.