LPG and ethane producer Range Resources has played down the impact of the US-China trade war on its exports.
Chief executive Dennis Degner told analysts on Thursday that, no matter “how the tariff dust settles”, demand is expected to be “relatively strong” for its US East Coast volumes of the natural gas liquids (NGL).
“We also see that the market will be incredibly efficient and start to redistribute those barrels to address global demand that still will be needing those LPG barrels or ethane barrels, regardless of what portion of the NGL component we’re looking at,” he said.
The company produces both natural gas and NGL, which includes ethane and LPG, from the Marcellus shale in the Appalachian Basin.
Although China has been a voracious importer of ethane and LPG, it has responded to Donald Trump’s tariffs with retaliatory duties on US exports of the commodities.
But Range Resources has been insulated from that.
As it reported first-quarter net income of $97m — a 5% increase on the same period of 2024 — it projected a pricing premium of $0.25 to $1.25 per barrel over benchmark NGL pricing at Mont Belvieu for all of 2025, down from $2.33 in all of last year.
That comes after it scored a $1.05 per barrel first-quarter premium over the Mont Belvieu basket, which is made up of mostly of ethane but includes LPGs propane and butane.
80% of LPG volumes
Degner said that in LPG alone, 80% of the company’s volumes are exported by ship.
“And all of it is going to Europe right now,” he said. “So we really don’t have a current exposure to the Chinese market.”
He said the company benefits from having access to an East Coast terminal, rather than exporting from the US Gulf Coast.
Its exports have continued to garner a premium in the first quarter that was consistent with 2024 levels, before the Trump administration touched off a trade war with China.
“There’s some transportation advantages clearly for us out of the Northeast. We think that will continue to play a part as the barrels get redistributed pending what comes out of the tariffs,” Degner said.
