U.S. Shale Will Drive LPG Ship Market Growth, Latsco Says

Increased U.S. exports of liquefied petroleum gas amid higher shale oil production will boost demand for ships that carry gases such as propane, butanes and ethane, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, director at Athens-headquartered Latsco Shipping Ltd., said.

Shipments of LPG from the U.S. rose to a record 506,000 barrels a day in April, up 65 percent from a year earlier, Energy Information Administration data show. Production of the gases has grown as high oil prices and improvements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques have allowed producers to tap into crude and gas trapped in layers of shale rock more than a mile beneath the Earth’s surface.