Natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, October 2017
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Released: 2017-12-15
Natural gas transmission pipelines received 555.0 million gigajoules of natural gas from fields, gathering systems and plants in October. Six provinces posted receipts, with Alberta (73.0%) and British Columbia (24.6%) holding the vast majority.
Natural gas transmission and distribution systems delivered 215.0 million gigajoules to industrial, 32.3 million gigajoules to residential and 30.0 million gigajoules to commercial and institutional consumers in October.
Provincial deliveries
In Alberta, October deliveries of natural gas totalled 148.3 million gigajoules. The majority (88.2%) were delivered to the industrial sector. Alberta industrial deliveries accounted for 47.2% of the natural gas consumed in Canada.
In Ontario, 48.2 million gigajoules of natural gas were delivered. The industrial sector received 51.3% of these deliveries, followed by the residential (25.8%) and commercial (22.9%) sectors.
Inventories
In October, opening inventories of natural gas in Canadian facilities totalled 1.05 billion gigajoules. Over the month, inventories increased 2.1% to close at 1.07 billion gigajoules. Storage facilities tend to build inventories during warmer months in preparation for the colder months ahead.
Inventories of natural gas in Western Canada rose 0.9% to close the month at 727.8 million gigajoules, while inventories in Central Canada increased 4.6% to close at 346.9 million gigajoules.
Chart 1
Canadian monthly natural gas inventories
Exports and imports
Canada exported 270.3 million gigajoules of natural gas by pipeline to the United States in October, up 10.7% from the same month in 2016. Meanwhile, imports of natural gas from the United States rose by 38.2% to 62.8 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 CANSIM tables 129-0001, 129-0002, 129-0003 and 129-0004 will remain available for historical reference.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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