The popularity of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is on the rise, even as diesel consumption continues to grow.
As part of the implementation of the National Energy Efficiency Program (NEEP), the National Agency for the Promotion and Rationalization of Energy Use (APRUE) converted about 70,000 vehicles to LPG from January to June 2023, through 1000 designated centers. This led to a 14% increase in consumption of this clean fuel, reaching 840,000 tons during the same period, compared to 730,000 tons from January to June 2022.
The program has thus exceeded the outlined goals. Initially, it was planned to convert one million vehicles to LPG by the end of 2023, but this number was already reached during the first quarter of the year. This was reported by the president of the Hydrocarbon Regulatory Authority (HRA), Rachid Nadil, cited by APS. He attributed this positive outcome to the incentive measures adopted in this area, including the abolition of the registration tax for converted vehicles, a reduced VAT tax (9%) on all conversion equipment, and the significant difference between the price of LPG (9 DA per liter) and other types of fuel (an average of 32 DA per liter).
However, the adoption of clean fuels has not been accompanied by a decrease in diesel consumption. During the reference period, the volume of diesel used reached almost 5 million tons (4.97), an increase of 4% compared to the same period last year (4.77 million tons).
Overall, fuel consumption increased by 0.4%, reaching 1.69 million tons, compared to 1.60 million tons in the first half of 2022. As for aviation fuel, consumption reached 290,000 tons during the same period of 2023, compared to 180,000 tons in the second half of 2022, an increase of 61%. Mr. Nadil attributed this strong growth to the accelerated pace of air traffic growth in the country, following the Covid-19 pandemic. The same trend was seen for marine fuel, with a consumption of 160,000 tons, an increase of 83% compared to the 90,000 tons recorded in the first half of 2022.
In general, for all petroleum products, the increase was 6.7%, reaching 8.69 million tons. The economic recovery experienced in several sectors, particularly services and industry, explains this growth, according to the president of the HRA.
Meanwhile, the consumption of butane and propane decreased by 3.9%, to 740,000 tons after reaching 770,000 tons during the same period in 2022, while bitumen consumption stood at 250,000 tons.
In evaluating this assessment, the president of the ARGH called for the rationalization of fuel consumption in order to save the country’s oil and gas resources and direct them towards exports to increase hydrocarbon revenues.