Bolivia’s Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (ANH) reports that from January to April this year, natural gas sales (all sectors) increased by 3.7% with respect to the same period of 2017, driven mainly by consumption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from vehicle refueling stations.
In the first four months of 2017, CNG sales reached 2,048million cubic feet (MMPC), while in the same period of 2018 it rose to 2,306 MMPC, an increase of 12.5%.
The director of District Coordination of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), Juan Carlos López, explained that the consumption of CNG increased due to the new vehicle fleet that was converted to natural gas in authorized conversion workshops.
ANH’s Department of Marketing of Derivatives and Natural Gas Distribution also reported there are a total of 351,398 natural gas vehicles in Bolivia. The Department of Santa Cruz consumes 32.79% of CNG, followed by Cochabamba with 28.61% and La Paz with 21.78%. The following departments in consumption of CNG are Tarija with 5.73%, Oruro with 4.99%, Chuquisaca with 3.90%, and Potosi with 2.17%.
The use of this hydrocarbon represents a cost saving for the user since one cubic meter (m3) of CNG has a cost of Bs 1.66 (USD 24 cents), which is approximately equivalent to 1.13 liters of gasoline that has a cost of Bs 4.22 (USD 61 cents). Compressed Natural Gas is also a clean fuel and reduces the contamination of the oil of the engine, prolonging its useful life.
Source: ANH
