By the numbers: Autogas around the world

Cecile Nourigat, autogas manager at the World LPG Association, offered some global perspective of the propane autogas market Friday during an educational session at the Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo in Nashville, Tenn.

According to Nourigat, “transport” as a category represents only 9 percent of global propane consumption. But autogas demand is on the rise, she says, steadily climbing to its current share of the market since 1994.

“It is the sector that has grown the most in the last 20 years,” she says. “It is small, but it is definitely an opportunity for the LPG sector.”

Autogas has reached a number of milestones in recent years, Nourigat adds. For example, the global market consumed 26 million tons of autogas in 2014. Also, the number of autogas vehicles on the road has doubled over the last 10 years, reaching 25 million worldwide in 2014. In addition, the global industry surpassed 73,000 dispensing stations that year.

The downside for the U.S. market at this time: Half of all global demand for autogas is in six countries. South Korea represents 14 percent of all autogas demand. Russia (11 percent) and Turkey (11 percent) also consume significant percentages of the world’s autogas.