Global LPG demand will rise sharply, climbing to around 360 million tonnes in 2027 from just under 300 million tonnes in 2016, according to David Appleton, senior LPG analyst at Argus Consulting, an energy research company, on Tuesday.
Appleton said the company's latest LPG report shows that strong Asia-Pacific demand would continue to be the key catalyst for the surge in consumption.
He said that the long-haul market's importance in shipping supplies from the U.S. to Asia-Pacific will persist over the decade, even if spot price arbitrage conditions look unfavorable as was the case over the past two years.
'Asia-Pacific will ultimately continue to need the U.S. supply as much as the U.S. producers need Asia-Pacific demand, especially from China, Japan and South Korea. European petrochemicals buyers will still need the U.S. LPG, as will importers in Latin American,' Appleton noted.
He also noted that demand growth over the forecast period would mainly come from two sectors - residential and petrochemicals.
Globally the largest LPG producers are the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia.
The report shows that the largest increase in LPG production since 2010 was seen in the U.S. as a result of the shale boom, and that the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing demand region by far.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr