January 13, 2023. The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) is working on policies and programs to intensify the use of natural gas vehicles (NGV), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) in the transportation of people and heavy cargo nationwide; so that the country progressively reduces its dependence on fuels derived from petroleum.
In order to continue with its policy of implementing cleaner and more efficient energy, MINEM seeks to reduce the national demand for diesel and gradually replace it with natural gas, as part of the energy transition.
To date, 77% of the vehicle fleet uses gasoline and 10% consumes diesel; however, this last fuel, despite having a lower percentage of consumers, required 49% of the energy used, compared to gasoline and gasohol, which, with a greater number of users, only required 30%.
In addition to this, the demand for diesel is supplied with 135 MBPD, which is met with 30% local production and 70% imports; Added to this, the variation in international prices directly impacts local prices, which are also affected by supply and demand, external factors, among others.
Promoting the use of NGV, LNG and CNG, in addition to contributing to the improvement of air quality, will allow significant economic savings for private vehicles, interprovincial transport companies, public buses, among other productive sectors; thus impacting the economic reactivation of the population.
In this way, it will help to satisfy the national demand for fuels in a reliable, regular, continuous and efficient manner; and will contribute to reducing diesel imports, reducing the supply risk since the supply depends on external sources.
