October 10, 2023 [LNG Prime]- Spanish liquefied natural gas imports and reloads dropped in September compared to the same month last year, according to LNG terminal operator Enagas.
LNG imports decreased by 21.7 percent to about 19.2 TWh in September and accounted for 65.9 percent of the total gas imports. In August, LNG imports reached some 22.3 TWh.
Including pipeline imports from Algeria, France, and Portugal, gas imports to Spain reached about 30.8 TWh last month, a drop from some 35.2 TWh in September last year, Enagas said in its monthly report.
Moreover, national gas demand in September dropped by 6.3 percent year-on-year to some 26.4 TWh.
Demand for power generation declined by 36.1 percent year-on-year to about 10 TWh last month, while conventional demand rose by 31.4 percent to 16.3 TWh, the LNG terminal operator said.
Enagas operates a large network of gas pipelines and has four LNG import plants in Barcelona, Huelva, Cartagena, and Gijon.
It also owns 50 percent of the BBG regasification plant in Bilbao and 72.5 percent of the Sagunto plant, while Reganosa operates the Mugardos plant.
In August, Spanish power group Endesa delivered the first commercial cargo to the El Musel LNG terminal in Gijon.
Enagas awarded the logistics services contract to Endesa in July and it also recently completed the sale of a 25 percent stake in the El Musel LNG terminal to Reganosa.
Nigeria and Algeria biggest LNG suppliers
The seven operational Spanish LNG regasification terminals, unloaded 23 cargoes last month, four cargoes less compared to September 2022, according to Enagas.
Nigiera was the biggest LNG supplier to Spain in September with about 6.19 TWh, up from 5.33 TWh last year, followed by Algeria with 5.05 TWh, a rise from 0.96 TWh last year.
The US was the biggest LNG supplier to Spain in August. Prior to that, Russia was the biggest supplier for three months in a row.
Spanish LNG terminals received 3.81 TWh from the US in September, down from 6 TWh last year, while Russian volumes reached 3.25 TWh, a drop from 5.35 TWh last year, the data shows.
Other LNG sources in September include France and Qatar.
LNG reloads down
Spanish LNG terminals loaded about 0.62 TWh in September, down 42 percent compared to some 1.07 TWh in September 2023 and also down from 2.25 TWh in August.
The Barcelona LNG terminal reloaded about 0.30 TWh of LNG, followed by the Sagunto terminal with about 0.16 TWh.
On the other hand, the number of truck loads at the LNG terminals rose by 26.2 percent year-on-year to 923, the data shows.
The Huelva LNG terminal completed 214 truck loads in September, while the Barcelona and Cartagena terminal completed 174 and 149 truck loads, respectively.
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