Message #732 From:
TheMachine Date: April 15, 2009 12:27:55 PM
U.S demand for industrial gases to rise
The petroleum and natural gas industries will consume the most industrial gases.
By Jim Carbone -- Purchasing, 4/14/2009 11:39:00 AM
A
new report forecasts that demand for industrial gases will grow 4.9%
per year to 7.5 million metric tons valued at $23.5 billion in 2013.
Driving that increase in demand will be development of new products and
technologies that require industrial gases and a high degree of
stability in markets such as food, according to a new report by
researcher The Freedonia Group in Cleveland.
Hydrogen is the most-consumed industrial gas in the U.S. followed by
nitrogen and oxygen. The three gases combine for 95% of industrial gas
demand by volume.
The petroleum and natural gas industry will continue to consume the
most industrial gases in the U.S., accounting for 65% of total gas
demand by volume and 60% by value in 2008.
Demand for industrial gas in the petroleum and natural gas production
segment will grow 4.3% annually through 2013, due to the increased use
of nitrogen and carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery projects.
Demand for hydrogen in the petroleum refining industry represents the
largest growth opportunity for industrial gas suppliers in the U.S.
Refiners are required to produce cleaner-burning fuels from
increasingly impure crude oil, a process requiring massive amounts of
hydrogen.
Captive hydrogen production accounted for 77% of refiners’ needs in
2008, but future increases in hydrogen demand will come primarily from
merchant suppliers. The chemical and metal processing industries
account for most oxygen demand and are both significant consumers of
nitrogen as well.
The food and beverage processing industries consume the most carbon
dioxide. Argon, helium and acetylene are low-volume, high-value gases,
demand for which is dominated by the metal processing and chemical
processing industries. The electronics, food and beverage processing,
and healthcare industries combined consumed 6% of total gas volume in
2008. Though relatively small, the healthcare market will experience
the most rapid growth of these three markets—the result of growing
oxygen demand for respiratory therapies http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6651544.html
A
new report forecasts that demand for industrial gases will grow 4.9%
per year to 7.5 million metric tons valued at $23.5 billion in 2013.