Welcome to LPGas.org, an online information and resource center for liquefied petroleum gas.   Liquefied petroleum gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a environmentally friendly fuel for cooking, heating homes, running forklifts, automotive engine fuel, aerosol propellants, ethylene cracker feedstock and many more important uses.

LP gases are members of the alkanes family of hydrocarbons.  Most LP gases are commonly referred to as natural gas liquids in the U.S., and include ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane and natural gasoline (also called pentanes and heavier). 

Outside the United States, LP gas, or LPG as it is most commonly called, typically includes only the propane and butane components of the total gas liquids stream.    Most countries use propane for cooking, heating and engine fuel, but many developing countries use mixtures of propane and butane, while a small handful use only butane as their primary LPG fuel of choice.

If you’re a farmer in the U.S. that uses propane and in need of a new truck, you’ll be happy to learn you have a shot at winning a state-of-the-art propane-fueled ROUSH® F-150 pickup by entering a new contest sponsored by the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC). 

The contest, part of PERC’s Propane Tank Tales Program, requires contestants to write a story about how they use propane on the farm.  PERC Director of Agriculture Programs, Mark Leitman, says that PERC is “always looking to hear from the field about how propane is used on the farm.”   The Propane Truck Giveway is an excellent means for PERC to obtain dialogue from propane users on the farm that use propane for various means other than home heating (i.e., weed flaming, crop drying, irrigation, frost control, etc.).

Details about the contest can be found at http://www.agpropane.com/tanktales .   General rules that apply to the contest are as follows:

From now until October 30, every farmer who fills out a Propane Tank Tales Program application at www.agpropane.com/tanktales will receive a pair of propane-branded work gloves. Eligible agricultural producers will be automatically entered into the random drawing for the truck. To be eligible to win the vehicle, the producer must meet a few requirements:

• Be a U.S. agricultural producer.
• Use at least 1,500 gallons of propane annually on the farm.
• Use the fuel in an agricultural application, not for home heating or another non-farming purpose.
• Be a propane customer in good standing with his fuel supplier.
• Be a legal driver who is 21 years of age or older.

PERC’s vision is that by 2010 the agricultural industry will embrace propane as a preferred energy source that offers cost-effectiveness, efficiency and productivity, reliability, portability, and environmental friendliness.

For more information on PERC and its programs to promote the safe and efficient use of propane in agriculture, visit www.propanecouncil.org or call 202-452-8975.

According to the latest info from the Russian Ministry of Energy, LPG exports from Russia are on the rise, the result of the temporary removal of export tariffs on Russian LPG production. 

LPG exports from Russian during the first six months of 2009 totaled 1.07 million metric tonnes, up from 731,800 tonnes for the same period in 2008.    Sibur, Russia’s largest petrochemical firm, was Russia’s largest producer and exporter of LPG during this time frame.

Triggered by the economic crisis, Russian LPG producers won a temporary concession from the Russian government to abandon export duties to help assist them in moving surplus production, mainly via exports to European nations.  The concession, which amounts to $90 per tonne, is costing the Russian government an estimated $15 million dollars U.S. per month.  The temporary exemption of export tariffs applies to LPG, propane, butane, propylene, ethylene and liquefied petroleum gases (LPG).

Five Largest Russian LPG Producers – 1st Half 2009
(Thousand Metric Tonnes)

Source:  Russian Energy Ministry

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company have shipped the first-ever LPG cargoes from the new Dung Quat oil refinery in Central Vietnam.  The two 3,200-cubic-meter LPG vessels from Vietnam’s first oil refinery, located in the central province of Quang Ngai, were shipped to PetroVietam Gas Company for sale in Vietnam’s domestic LPG market marketplace.  LPG is widely used as a cooking gas throughout Vietnam.

On the heels of the first two vessels, Binh Son announced plans to ship another 3,600 cubic meters LPG cargoe to PetroVietnam Gas to PetroVietnam on July 5.

The Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company will begin selling the first 5,000-7,000 cubic meters of A92 gasoline from the refinery on Thursday and Friday, and will export propylene from the refinery to Japan.

Binh Son, a PetroVietnam unit in charge of managing the new crude oil refinery, said the Dung Quat Refinery would begin running at full capacity near the end of August 2009.

The refinery’s output for 2009 is projected at 2.6 million tons of all petroleum products, including LPG.  Dung Quat’s main refined products include LPG, unleaded gasoline, kerosene/jet fuel, feedstock for propylene plants, diesel (industrial and auto) and other petrochemicals like naphtha.

The refinery cost US$2.5 billion dollars and has an annual capacity of 6.5 million tons.  It is estimated that this output  will meet 30 percent of all domestic petroleum product demand in Vietnam, contributing to the nation’s energy security by gradually reducing dependence on gasoline, LPG and oil imports

KPS of Sweden, one of the world’s most renowned pipe manufacturers for petroleum, has announced it will launch a new line of plastic pipe designed for LPG.  This ground-breaking announcment has far-reaching effects.

KPS has announced that it has been able to successfully apply its ATEX-compliant pipe technology to the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel market.  The new LPG pipe is said to offer the same unique conductive properties as KPS’s petroleum pipe. Company officials are hopeful its new plastic LPG pipe will become a new benchmark for the LPG industry.

What distinguishes this new line of plastic pipe products for LPG is the ease and quickness of installation.  A recent installation in France that would have taken several days, was completed with KPS plastic pipe in one day, representing a huge savings in time and cost versus traditional installation of a steel piping system.

KPS’s new plastic LPG pipe is said to be 100 per cent plastic pipe with a permeation liner and a conductive inner layer.   This makes the pipe corrosion free.  Other traits of interest to the LPG industry include competitive pricing, it’s semi-flexible and requires no welding.  It’s billed as being easy to roll out on the job site, from one end to the other. 

At a recent installation in France, the installation of our LPG pipes took less than one day, including pressure testing of the pipes, Fredrik Hellner continues. This represents enormous savings in cost and time compared to other types of pipes.

KPS’s new plastic LPG pipe will be introduced at the Petrol Station 2009 exhibition in Warsaw, Poland May 6-8 and at the European LPG Gas Association’s (AEGL) annual seminar, which will convene in Vienna May 13-15, 2009.

To contact KPS, visit the company’s website at www.kpsystem.com