Natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, February 2018
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Released: 2018-04-18
Natural gas transmission pipelines received 532.9 million gigajoules of natural gas from fields, gathering systems and plants in February, up 8.3% from February 2017. Seven provinces posted receipts, with Alberta (68.9%) and British Columbia (29.1%) holding the vast majority.
Natural gas transmission and distribution systems delivered 238.1 million gigajoules to industrial consumers, 104.4 million gigajoules to residential consumers and 83.8 million gigajoules to commercial and institutional consumers in February.
Chart 1
Canadian monthly natural gas deliveries
Provincial deliveries
In Alberta, February deliveries of natural gas totalled 192.4 million gigajoules. The majority were delivered to the industrial sector, accounting for approximately one-third of the natural gas consumed in Canada.
In Ontario, natural gas transmission and distribution systems delivered 122.2 million gigajoules of natural gas in February. The residential sector received the majority of these deliveries, totalling 50.9 million gigajoules.
Inventories
Closing inventories of natural gas in Canadian facilities totalled 678.4 million gigajoules, down 13.8% from the beginning of the month. This marked the fourth consecutive month of withdrawals, consistent with the increased demand for natural gas during winter in Canada.
Chart 2
Canadian monthly natural gas inventories
Exports and imports
Canadian exports of natural gas by pipeline to the United States fell 5.4% compared with February 2017. Imports of natural gas from the United States were down 32.2% over the same period. Fluctuations in Canada-United States natural gas trade data are commonly seen between periods.
Chart 3
Canadian imports and exports of natural gas
Note to readers
Data have been revised from January 2018.
Starting with reference month January 2018, the survey's coverage of natural gas storage facilities was expanded to improve the data quality of the program. As a result, comparisons to past estimates may be affected by the increased coverage.
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).
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