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Mexico Reaches Peak Lp Gas Usage

Lp gas use in Mexico, the world’s top per capita lpg user, may have reached its height as the country increasingly embraces natural gas and energy efficiency. In a recent report, Mexico’s Energy Ministry said that lpg gas consumption hit its peak at 333,000 barrels a day in 2002, dropping to 286,000 barrels in 2009.

According to the ministry’s 2009-2024 outlook for lpg, consumption will grow only 0.1 per cent per year in that time. Lpg imports are expected to fall to 48,000 barrels a day in 2024 from 89,000 in 2008, or 3.8 per cent per year, as state owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which has a monopoly on the production and importation of lpg, steps up production to 282,000 barrels per day in 2024 from 209,000 in 2008.

Lpg no longer has an economic advantage as a vehicle fuel as a result of changes in Mexican government policy, and car and truck fleets are abandoning lpg autogas altogether. Another consequence has been consolidation in the distribution market.

Some Mexico City neighbourhoods have switched to natural gas, but the densely populated centre of the country will still be reliant on lpg gas for the foreseeable future. Approximately 72 per cent of Mexico’s 27 million households use lp gas.

Mexico will probably remain the world’s top per capita user of lpg – currently 68kg per year – for some time.