OREANDA-NEWS. Norfolk Southern (NS) last week embargoed inbound railcar movements to the storage hub in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as nearby railyard congestion hindered switching operations.

The NS embargo became effective on 1 May and will stay in place indefinitely, with no special permits given for inbound traffic. The embargo impacts rail deliveries into Petal, Mississippi, and Dragon, Mississippi, where railcars are sent for storage ahead of delivery into Targa and Enterprise Products Partners terminals in nearby Hattiesburg.

"Customers Targa and Enterprise ... have accumulated too many cars," the embargo said.

In conjunction with NS' embargo, Targa issued a force majeure and implored its clients to immediately hold planned inbound shipments to Targa's space at Dragon.

The embargo comes as NGL marketers are pushing liquids production from sites in the liquids-rich northeastern shale formations to smaller NGL storage hubs.

Last week Williams said its inbound rail capacity to the midcontinent storage hub in Conway, Kansas, is fully contracted for summer months - a company first.

On the Hattiesburg embargo, spot propane prices at the hub declined relative to the primary storage hub in Mont Belvieu, Texas.

Hattiesburg propane stood at a 3.50?/USG discount relative to LST propane on Friday, and dropped to a 4.75?/USG discount during Monday's session.