World Forum Coming to Houston

For the first time in four years, the World LPG Forum is being held in the United States. The 2018 edition of this globe-trotting annual conference and exhibition is to be held October 2-4 in Houston.

Like the previous gatherings, the 31st World LPG Forum will feature displays of the LPG industry’s latest products and services, presentations of technical and market information, and opportunities to meet industry professionals from around the globe. Organized by the World LPG Association (WLPGA), it will draw officials from LPG companies, governments, and other organizations from many countries.

“Across the world our product is basically the same, but not all businesses are run in the same way,” said James Rockall, CEO and managing director of WLPGA. “There is a real opportunity to see how others operate and to bring new ideas from other countries and regions into your business and gain a competitive advantage. Participation at the World Forum should be seen as an investment, not a cost. Just one idea can literally earn you millions, and this is something unique to the World Forum.

“The World Forum Exhibition is also exceptional,” he added. “Regional and national shows often bring the same companies together, but the World event is different. New products and new services from countries beyond the U.S.A. can be highly competitive and again allow you to differentiate your company compared to your competitors. Beyond new ideas, our industry is a family and getting to know your peers in other countries is in itself an opportunity. Our event grows every year as people who attend for the first time when the Forum is held in their country often revisit in subsequent years.

“Lastly, consider that your competitors may well be attending and you would not want to leave all these advantages to them!”

In the three decades since the first World LPG Forum was held in San Francisco in 1988, the event has been held 30 times in 27 cities in 23 countries on six continents. This year’s event in Houston will be the fourth World LPG Forum held in the U.S.A. and the first since 2014.

“The World Forum rotates around the world, but we try to return to Europe, Asia, and the Americas every three to four years,” Rockall explained. “Two thousand eighteen is the turn of the Americas and, given the massive changes that we see in the U.S. industry with record levels of LPG exports, the U.S. was selected.

“Within the U.S. our selection of a city was done against many criteria, not least of which were the preferences of our principal sponsors, all of whom selected Houston,” he added. “The reality is that Houston is the center of our industry for many people in the world.”

The last time the World LPG Forum was held in the United States (2014 in Miami), the event drew 2000 total attendees from 88 countries and 97 exhibiting companies. The top five countries represented were the U.S.A. (with 661 attendees), India (132), Brazil (77), Japan (73), and Nigeria (52). Since then, the World LPG Forum has been held in Singapore; Florence, Italy; and Marrakech, Morocco.

This year’s event in Houston will feature a one-day Global Technology Conference (GTC) and the two-day World LPG Forum. Attendees can choose Full Registration, which includes access to all Forum and GTC sessions, or Selective Registration, which includes access only to the GTC. The exhibition area can be visited free of charge by signing up as a visitor.

The GTC will be held Tuesday, Oct. 2, from 2:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. It will showcase innovative and original technological ideas from around the world. One of the papers presented at GTC2018 will be selected as the winner of the WLPGA Innovation Award.

The World LPG Forum will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 3-4. The theme of this year’s Forum is “Tomorrow’s Energy Today.”

“More than perhaps ever before we are living in a world of energy transition,” Rockall said. “New renewable energy systems are being promoted and, in many of the world’s developed economies, fossil fuels are getting bad press due to impact on climate and air quality. We want to make the point that not all fossil fuels are equal and that gas and of course in particular propane or LPG is not yesterday’s fuel. It is not only today’s fuel but it is tomorrow’s as well. And by tomorrow we see a long-term future to 2030 or 2050 and beyond. We intend to release some new research in Houston that will demonstrate the economic advantages of greater propane in the energy mix, compared to electrification of everything post-2030. We expect this research to attract a lot of interest.

“Our opening panel will be entitled ‘Tomorrow’s Energy Today’ and key leaders from the U.S. and across the world will debate this issue,” Rockall added. “This forum theme will run through the whole week including in some very original interactive ‘powerplay’ sessions.

“Finally, we are the World LPG Forum and we will also acknowledge that in many countries the energy transition is more fundamental. Households switching from unsustainable biomass to LPG represents a huge transition for many people.”

The World Forum exhibition area will include over 100 companies from around the world. The products and services on display at the exhibition will include those related to the production, storage, transport, distribution, installation, and use of LPG.

“The Forum is attended by people involved at every stage of the LPG value chain and there is value in participation for all, whether CEOs of multinational companies, commercial managers in smaller national retail companies, or junior staff who can use this remarkable week to get an appreciation of how the world of LPG does business,” Rockall said.

At the World LPG Forum website, you can sign up as a visitor to the exhibition area, register for the Forum and/or the GTC, see the companies that will be exhibiting, and learn more about the topics to be discussed in the sessions. The website is at worldlpgforum2018.com. For more information about the World LPG Forum, contact Esther Assous of WLPGA at

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A special discounted National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) member rate is available to those who are NPGA members. For more information, contact Kristen White at

and to sign up, email

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