Liquefied Gas in the Energy Complex of Ukraine

Abstract

The dynamics of consumption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for 2010—2016 was analyzed and a forecast was made by the end of 2017. The necessity of development of the LPG sector in the national energy sector was substantiated. There have been determined the main technical requirements and qualitative parameters of LPG gas, which depend on the content of the main components and technology of its production and are regulated by the existing normative documents of Ukraine, in particular, the topicality of analysis of sulfur compounds in the composition of LPG gas was indicated.

It was shown the structure of resource filling of the Ukrainian market of LPG gas, the characteristic feature of which still remains the deep dependence on import deliveries. So, according to the results of 2016, the Russian Federation remains the largest supplier of LPG gas in Ukraine with a market share of 54 %, and in total, with Belarusian producers dependent on Russia, 70 %. This is due to the lack of any restrictions on the delivery of LPG by Russian producers to Ukraine over the past three years and a logistical advantage, and therefore for Russian producers, Ukraine remains a more economically advantageous market compared with, for example, Poland or Turkey. At the same time, the most powerful among Ukrainian producers are «Ukrgasvydobuvannya», «Ukrnafta» and «Ukrtatnafta» with a total volume of liquefied gas production of only 377 thousand tons (26 %). This can be partly explained by the absence of own raw materials for increasing the capacity of Ukrainian LPG gas production.

It is shown that Ukrainian oil and gas refineries cannot provide production of high-quality automotive liquefied gas, therefore the available LPG gas is processed by additives, which can significantly reduce its negative impact on the engine and the environment. To improve the quality and performance of LPG gas, packages of additives from industrial companies such as Innospec (Octimise series) and Petrol (AQUAGASOL, CORIMSOL series) were used. There also have been presented the basic physical and chemical characteristics of these additives and their mechanism of action.