Btu Valuations
| Commodity | Btu | MMBTU | PriceExample | Priceper MMBtu | Propane Equiv $/Gal |
| Propane ($/gal) | 91,500 | 0.091500 | $0.52000 | 5.683060 | 0.520000 |
| Natural Gas ($/MMBtu) | 1,000,000 | 1.000000 | $5.00000 | 5.000000 | 0.457500 |
| Electricity ($/kwh) | 3,414 | 0.003414 | $0.05080 | 12.879906 | 1.361511 |
| Crude ($/bbl) | 5,800,000 | 5.800000 | $30.0000 | 5.172414 | 0.473276 |
| Fuel Oil ($/gal) | 138,690 | 0.138690 | $0.84000 | 6.056652 | 0.554184 |
| Gasoline ($/gal) | 125,000 | 0.125000 | $0.95000 | 7.600000 | 0.695400 |
What is a Btu?
A Btu (British Thermal Unit) is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
Above is the Btu value for various energies. To compare the values on a propane equivalent we first convert the values to a MMBtu (1million Btu's). You take the energy's price and divide it by its MMBtu's. Natural gas is priced on a MMBtu basis. We then multiply the amount of propane Btu content per MMBtu (.0915) to get the propane equivalent value. It's a simple calculation but reveals the true energy value of the commodities from a propane perspective.
In the table below you can see how this calculates for crude oil and natural gas. There are 138,095 Btu's in a gallon of crude. There are 91,500 Btu's in a gallon propane. So to compare crude to propane, propane should be 66.26% of the crude value.
Correspondingly, when we compare propane to natural gas, propane should be 9.15% of the value of natural gas for the same energy value.
Crude Oil
| Btu's | Prices | |
|---|---|---|
| CrudeBtus per Barrel | 5,800,000 | $30.00 |
| CrudeBtus per Gallon | 138,095 | $0.7143 |
| Propane Btus per Gallon | 91,500 | 66.26% |
| Propane Btu's as a % of Crude | 66.26% | $0.4733 |
Natural Gas
| Btu's | Prices | |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 1,000,000 | $5.000 |
| Propane Btu's per Gallon | 91,500 | 9.15% |
| Propane as a % of Natural Gas | 9.15% | $0.4575 |
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