Reporting Guide – Monthly Natural Gas Storage Survey 2018

Environment, Energy and Transportation Statistics Division
Energy Section

Storage facilities include natural gas storage caverns such as: depleted oil and gas reservoirs, aquifer reservoirs, salt cover reservoirs. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage facilities are out of scope for this survey.

Units: Report Gigajoules (GJ) of natural gas stored during the month under review.

Confidentiality

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Table of contents

• A – General Information: Purpose of survey, Data-sharing agreements and Data linkage
• B – Reporting Instructions
• C – Reporting Instructions and natural Gas definitions

A – General information

Purpose of survey

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the supply of, and demand for, energy in Canada. This information serves as an important indicator of Canadian economic performance, and is used by all levels of government in establishing informed policies in the energy area. In the case of public utilities, it is used by governmental agencies to fulfill their regulatory responsibilities. The private sector also uses this information in the corporate decision-making process. Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

Data-sharing agreements

To reduce respondent burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data-sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Statistics Canada will only share data from this survey with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data.

Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing of the data.

For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon.

The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician and returning it with the completed questionnaire. Please specify the organizations with which you do not want to share your data.

For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut as well as with the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources, the Ministère de l'énergie et des ressources naturelles du Québec, the Manitoba Department of Mineral Resources, the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines, the British Columbia Ministry of Natural Gas Development, National Energy Board, Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada.

For agreements with provincial and territorial government organizations, the shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Data linkage

To enhance the data from this survey, Statistics Canada may combine it with information from other surveys or from administrative sources.

B – Reporting Instructions

Please report information for a specific reference month in 2018.

Please complete all sections as applicable.

If the information requested is unknown, please provide your best estimate.

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the Monthly Natural Gas Storage Survey. If you need more information, please call 1-877-604-7828.

C – Reporting Instructions and Natural Gas Definitions

Question 1: Opening inventory

1a: Opening inventory of base or cushion gas

Report total amount of base or cushion gas held by the establishment on the first day of the month under review. This should equal the closing inventory of the previous month.

Definition:

• Base gas, also referred to as cushion gas is the amount of gas that must be present in storage at all times to maintain a storage facility's pressure.

1b: Opening inventory of working gas

Report total amount of working gas held by the establishment on the first day of the month under review. This should equal the closing inventory of the previous month.

Definition:

• Working gas is the amount of gas that can be withdrawn from storage while maintaining a storage facility's minimum operating pressure.

Total opening inventory of natural gas

Report total amount of natural gas held by the establishment on the first day of the month under review. This should equal the sum of the base/cushion gas and working gas.

Question 2: Closing inventory

2a: Closing inventory of base or cushion gas

Report total amount of base or cushion gas held by the establishment on the last day of the month under review.

Definition:

• Base gas, also referred to as cushion gas is the amount of gas that must be present in storage at all times to maintain a storage facility's pressure.

2b: Closing inventory of working gas

Report total amount of working gas held by the establishment on the last day of the month under review.

Definition:

• Working gas is the amount of gas that can be withdrawn from storage while maintaining a storage facility's minimum operating pressure.

Total closing inventory of natural gas

Report total amount of natural gas held by the establishment on the last day of the month under review. This should equal the sum of the base/cushion gas and working gas.

Question 3: Heating value of stored natural gas

3:  Average heating value of stored natural gas in gigajoules per thousand cubic metres

Report average heat content of your natural gas held in storage for the month under review.

Question 4: Injected, withdrawn, and inventory adjustments of natural gas storage

4a: Injected in to storage

Report total amount of natural gas received by the establishment for month under review.

4b: Withdrawn from storage

Report total amount of natural gas delivered by the establishment for month under review.

4c: Other adjustments

This calculated amount is the difference between (1) opening and closing inventories and (2) injections and withdrawals. This difference includes discrepancies due to meter inaccuracies and/or leakage or other losses. Inventory adjustments can be a positive or negative value.

• Inventory adjustments = (closing – opening inventories) – (withdrawals – injections)

Net withdrawals of natural gas from inventories

This calculated amount is the difference between (1) withdrawals and (2) the sum of injections and inventory adjustments. Net withdrawals can be a positive or negative value.

• Net withdrawals = (injections - withdrawals + inventory adjustments)

Question 5: Natural gas held in the United States

5: Natural gas in storage facilities in the United States

Report total amount of natural gas held by the establishment in storage facilities located in the United States for eventual use in Canada.

Thank you for your participation.