A Global Roadmap for Autogas

Autogas is a fuel of tomorrow, as well as a proven fuel of today. It is already the most widely used unblended alternative to the conventional oil-based transport fuels, gasoline and diesel, in terms of the size of its fleet. It is the leading alternative fuel for passenger cars and vans. Supplies of LPG are ample and growing fast, and can easily meet continuing strong growth in demand for Autogas in the years to come – even if demand for other energy uses of LPG grows too. With its diverse sources of supply, flexible supply chain and increasing production levels, increased reliance on LPG can help enhance the security of supply

The supply of LPG is set to grow strongly in the coming years on the back of rising production of natural gas and associated liquids extraction – already the primary source of LPG worldwide. In addition to proven reserves in oil and gas fields, the flexibility of modern refining processes offers considerable potential for expanding supply to meet demand from the transport sector.

And field and refinery supplies will also increase as wasteful flaring and venting practices, which are still common in many parts of the world, are eradicated. Indeed, a widespread concern in the LPG sector is that supply will outpace demand in the coming years, driving down prices. In the central scenario of the IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook, LPG supply is projected to grow by 2 mb/d, or around 20%, between 2016 and 2040, reaching over 12 mb/d (IEA, 2017b).

In addition, there is considerable scope for diverting supplies of LPG from other, less valuable end uses. In particular, LPG can easily be replaced in low-value petrochemical uses by other feedstocks such as naphtha, ethane and distillate. Availability of these oil products, which are currently used mainly for making gasoline and diesel, will inevitably rise as demand for those two fuels in the transport sector drops with switching to alternative fuels.