Spanish Gas Imports Continue to Rise
Spanish demand for natural gas grew by 13% year on year in September to reach 26.15 terawatt-hours of gas (2.43bn m3), said Enagas October 2.
It was the highest September value in the last five years, added the Spanish gas grid operator.
Demand in the household, commercial, and industrial sectors was up about 5% with all industrial sectors using more, but particularly construction and metallurgy. Demand from Spain’s power generation sector increased by 44% year on year, to almost 7.1 TWh of gas (0.66bn m3).
Enagas said that, in 2017 to date, Spain’s gas demand in Spain has risen by more than 9%; demand for gas from the power generation sector was up by 33%, from industry up 7%, and from homes and commercial premises up 4.5%. These latest data moreover form part of a recent trend.
Enagas data on Spanish gas imports are valid up to August only but it also shows that cumulative, and LNG, imports are both trending upward.
Increased Qatari, Nigerian LNG imports
Spain’s total gas imports for the 12 months ending August 2017 were 381.2 TWh (35.45bn m3), up 4.4% on the figure for calendar year 2016. LNG imports from Spain’s top three main LNG sources all increased – Nigeria by 6% to 5.2bn m3, Peru by 80% to 3.3bn m3 and Qatar by 21% to 3.25bn m3 – between September 2016 and August 2017, relative to calendar 2016. In contrast, Algerian gas and LNG imports and Trinidadian LNG all declined.
Mark Smedley