Global concern over climate change, depleting oil resources, and increasing crude oil prices has created demand for renewable and sustainable sources of fuels and chemicals. More than forty microbial genera, mainly yeasts and molds, have very high lipogenesis potential and also grow well on various carbon sources. This review summarizes the metabolic pathways of lipogenesis in yeast and key limiting factors that influence lipid production. Efforts by several researchers to promote overexpression and downregulation of key enzymes and responsible genes are also discussed. Attempts to increase lipid production at different steps during metabolic pathways are summarized. This work also covers constraints and bottlenecks for fatty acid production and a brief discussion of methods for increasing flux of lipogenic pathways and future prospects.