Natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, July 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: 2017-09-22
Natural gas transmission pipelines received 536.8 million gigajoules of natural gas from fields, gathering systems and plants in July, up 3.2% from the same month in 2016. Six provinces posted receipts, with Alberta (75.1%) and British Columbia (22.5%) holding the majority.
Natural gas transmission and distributions systems delivered 198.4 million gigajoules to industrial, 16.1 million gigajoules to commercial and institutional and 16.1 million gigajoules to residential consumers in July.
Provincial deliveries
In Alberta, July deliveries of natural gas amounted to 128.8 million gigajoules. The majority (94.0%) were delivered to the industrial sector. Alberta industrial deliveries accounted for 52.5% of the natural gas consumed in Canada.
In Ontario, 39.2 million gigajoules of natural gas were delivered. The industrial sector received 61.9% of these deliveries, followed by the residential (21.2%) and commercial (16.8%) sectors.
Inventories
Opening inventories of natural gas in Canadian facilities totalled 847.1 million gigajoules in July. Inventories rose 8.3% over the month to close at 917.2 million gigajoules. Storage facilities tend to build inventories during the summer in preparation for the colder months ahead.
Inventories of natural gas in Western Canada rose 6.5% to close the month at 659.4 million gigajoules, while inventories in Central Canada increased 13.0% to close at 257.8 million gigajoules.
Chart 1
Canadian monthly natural gas inventories
Exports and imports
Canada exported 274.6 million gigajoules of natural gas by pipeline to the United States in July, down 2.4% from the same month in 2016. Meanwhile, imports of natural gas from the United States totalled 73.3 million gigajoules, up 35.4% from July 2016.
Chart 2
Canadian imports and exports of natural gas
Note to readers
Data from January 2016 to June 2017 have been revised.
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 historical reference.
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: