Natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, April 2017
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Released: 2017-06-23
Natural gas transmission pipelines received 535.4 million gigajoules of natural gas from fields, gathering systems and plants in April, up 6.8% from the same month in 2016. Seven provinces posted receipts, with Alberta (72.7%) and British Columbia (24.5%) holding the majority.
Natural gas transmission and distribution systems delivered 194.7 million gigajoules to industrial consumers, 62.0 million gigajoules to residential consumers and 48.5 million gigajoules to commercial and institutional consumers in April.
Provincial deliveries
In Alberta, April deliveries of natural gas amounted to 141.5 million gigajoules, up 13.4% from the same month in 2016. The majority (80.1%) were delivered to the industrial sector. Alberta industrial deliveries accounted for 37.1% of the natural gas consumed in Canada.
In Ontario, 83.6 million gigajoules of natural gas were delivered. The residential sector received 40.5% of these deliveries, followed by the industrial (33.6%) and commercial (25.9%) sectors.
Chart 1
Canadian monthly natural gas inventories
Opening and closing inventories
In April, opening inventories of natural gas in Canadian facilities totalled 608.1 million gigajoules. Over the month, inventories rose 3.7% to close at 630.4 million gigajoules. This was the first increase following six consecutive months of net withdrawals.
Opening inventories of natural gas in Western Canada rose 0.8% to close the month at 457.2 million gigajoules, while opening inventories in Central Canada increased 12.1% to close at 173.3 million gigajoules.
Exports and imports
Canada exported 266.9 million gigajoules of natural gas by pipeline to the United States in April, up 1.8% from the same month in 2016. Imports of natural gas from the United States rose 54.7% compared with April 2016, to 98.0 million gigajoules.
Chart 2
Canadian imports and exports of natural gas
Note to readers
In January 2016, changes were made to the Monthly Natural Gas Transmission Survey and the Monthly Natural Gas Distribution Survey. In addition, the Monthly Natural Gas Storage Survey was introduced to provide measures on gas storage characteristics related to inventories and flows.
Storage data are now published in CANSIM table 129-0005, transmission data in CANSIM table 129-0006 and distribution data in CANSIM table 129-0007. CANSIM tables 129-0001, 129-0002, 129-0003 and 129-0004 will remain available for reference purposes.
Definitions
Data on natural gas no longer correspond to marketable natural gas but represent natural gas from fields, gas-gathering systems and gas plants.
Natural gas deliveries (termed "sales" in releases prior to January 2016) include deliveries to industrial, commercial and institutional, and residential consumers.
Opening inventories correspond to inventories as of the first day of the reference month, while closing inventories correspond to inventories as of the last day of the reference month. For example, the reference period for the opening inventory in January was January 1, while the reference period for the closing inventory was January 31.
Pipeline fuel is used to power compressors to move gas through pipelines.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
- Date modified: