Ultragaz is a Brazilian
liquefied petroleum gas
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane.
LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cookin ...
(LPG) distribution company. It originated as part of the company Empresa Brasileira de Gás a Domicílio, created by
Ernesto Igel
Ernesto Igel (27 November 1893 – 24 January 1966) was an Austrian entrepreneur and founder of the company Empresa Brasileira de Gáz a Domilicio Ltda, the first Brazilian gas distribution network of fuel for cooking equipment (LPG).
In 1938, th ...
, founder of
Ultra Group.
Ultragaz is the largest LPG distributor in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, with 46 percent market share. It provides gas to about 15 million households in the bottled LPG segment and more than 90,000 customers in bulk.
History
Austrian entrepreneur
Ernesto Igel
Ernesto Igel (27 November 1893 – 24 January 1966) was an Austrian entrepreneur and founder of the company Empresa Brasileira de Gáz a Domilicio Ltda, the first Brazilian gas distribution network of fuel for cooking equipment (LPG).
In 1938, th ...
moved to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
from Vienna in 1920 and founded Empresa Brasileira de Gás à Domicílio in 1937.
The company was the first in Brazil to distribute household gas. Empresa Brasileira de Gás à Domicílio started small with three delivery trucks and less than 200 customers. By the early 1960s, operating as Ultragaz, the company served a customer base of 1 million users. In 1997, Ultragaz introduced UltraSystem, the LPG bulk delivery system.
In 2003, Ultragaz acquired Shell's LPG distribution business in Brazil, Shell Gas. Ultragaz also introduced online and SMS order systems.
In October 2011, Ultragaz acquired the LPG distribution branch of the Spanish company Repsol in Brazil for R$50 million.
and incorporated an annual sales volume of 22,000 tons, corresponding to 1% of the Brazilian market. Ultragaz has over 4,200 resellers.
Other names
In the State of Bahia, the company operates as Brasilgás.
References
{{Portal, Brazil, Energy
Ultrapar
Oil and gas companies of Brazil
Companies based in São Paulo