1

From "When Gas Gets Tight":

Middle East ethane is valued at fuel value with gas at 75 cents per million British thermal units; discounts on naphtha are assumed at 25 % for the curve.

I can't wrap my mind around this.

Is the ethane value calculated based on how many BTU its burning produces? What is the role of the word gas here? Why not simply:

Middle East ethane is valued at fuel value: at 75 cents per million British thermal units; discounts on naphtha are assumed at 25 % for the curve.

Or do they imply "we assume the price of gas(oline) to equal 75 cents per million BTU, and calculate the value of ethane from that"?

Here is the image containing the sentence I quoted:

enter image description here

1
  • 1
    "Fuel value" is a chemical term and also comes up when talking about the composition of stars, and the nutritional value of food, for example. I take it to mean that its only value is the energy it can produce, while another material might have more value than the BTUs it can produce because it can be refined into something else.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 13:50

1 Answer 1

1

I think it means:

Ethane is valued at fuel-value, with gas at 75 cents per million BTU.

The adjunct with gas at 75 cents per million BTU stands as the index of "fuel-value".

In other words, the value assigned here to ethane corresponds to the value of fuel, which for gas is 75 cents per million BTU.

3
  • I thought it over and I think they mean natural gas. But I don't understand whether they mean to say that both ethane and natural gas are valued at 75 cents per million BTU Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 11:18
  • 1
    Yes, I just checked the article itself (earlier I'd consulted only the headline) and would agree with you. In AmE, "when gas gets tight" is a phrase that is normally associated with shortages of gasonline at the pump. But I wouldn't change my parsing of the syntax, just the reference of "gas". I will edit.
    – TimR
    Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 11:19
  • 1
    I think the valuation is the same in either case. If not, then the answer to your question requires knowledge of the petrochemical industry, not English. If different amounts of ethane and gas are required to produce a million BTU, then the value of ethane is being expressed in terms of the amount of it required to produce those BTUs, with 75 cents standing as the index value of those million BTUs.
    – TimR
    Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 11:22

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .