Overview of the global natural gas fueling market

After taking a hit due to the collapse of oil prices, the natural gas transport industry looks to establish the fuel as a long-term alternative to petrol and diesel. Many experts expect the market to significantly grow over the next decade, with countries like China already making solid efforts to promote CNG and LNG.

Natural gas has become a clear alternative fuel for the present and future. The volatility of oil prices, the large reserves of natural gas across the world, and its environmental benefits have made it a key fuel. A great number of car manufacturing companies have now presented their natural gas vehicles (NGVs). However, what was the most promising alternative fuel in years prior to the downfall of oil prices, still hasn´t stablished itself as a mainstream fuel, while electric and fuel-cell vehicles enjoy a better reputation among the public and are attracting more government incentives.

A number of studies have tipped natural gas, both in its compressed and liquefied form, to grow at a rate of 4-5% a year until 2025. The total number of natural gas refuelling stations in the world is expected to reach almost 39,300 sites by 2026, according to a study by Navigant Research published last summer.

“Despite the decline in oil prices, stricter emissions and fuel economy regulations mean that NG remains a very attractive alternative to gasoline and diesel in many regions and vehicle applications where electrification is not a practical alternative,” said Sam Abuelsamid, senior research analyst with Navigant Research.

The number of NGVs is expected to grow from 23,001 in 2015 to 38,890 in 2025, with most them being powered by CNG, according to figures by the same research group.

Technavio analysts forecast the global compressed natural gas (CNG) compressors market to surpass USD 6 billion by 2020 in their last report. 

China gets ahead with natural gas  

Despite the dramatic drop in growth from 2013 to 2015, China has taken the global lead in natural gas transport.

The long distances of the Asian giant, the large reserves of natural gas and a need to cut in fuel emissions made LNG a solution to the country´s heavy-duty transport demands, while CNG allows them to reduce city air pollution.

In 2015, China had 2,500 refuelling stations dispensing LNG for a nationwide fleet of some 240,000 LNG vehicles, according to ENN European Transportation Fuels.

There are currently more than 3,000 CNG/LNG refuelling stations in China and a NGV population of over 1 million, while the market rate of about 100,000 NGV cars a year by vehicle manufacturers will only increase those numbers.

Due to the environmental challenges that China faces, there has been numerous initiatives to promote the use of CNG-powered vehicles in more than 100 cities. The drop in oil price and incentives for electric cars are having mixed results on NGV car sales and refuelling infrastructure.

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