Canadian exports of natural gas in 2014 fell to their lowest level in at least 15 years as the rapid growth in domestic Marcellus shale gas production in the United States displaced historical Canadian supplies into the U.S. northeast, National Energy Board (NEB) figures show.
According to the board, exports were off by nearly 6% last year to 2.69 trillion cubic feet (tcf) from 2.86 tcf in 2013.
Gas exports from export points in Ontario and Quebec to the U.S. dropped by 12% in 2014 from 2013 for a decline of 38% since 2010, says the NEB’s Canadian Energy Dynamics: Review of 2014 report.
Since 1999, the highest year for gas exports was 2007, when 3.79 tcf – 10.38 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day – of Canadian gas was shipped to the U.S.
Over the five years between 2010 and 2014, gas exports from Canada declined by 17% to 2.69 tcf in 2014 from 3.24 tcf in 2010.
The sharpest drops were at export points in Ontario and Quebec, somewhat offset by the growth in exports into the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
At the Iroquois export point, gas volumes fell nearly 28% to 187.23 bcf last year from 259.53 bcf in 2010, while gas exports at Niagara Falls were off nearly 97% to 2.96 bcf in 2014 from 87.6 bcf in 2010. During November and December 2014, there were no gas exports from Niagara Falls.
After sliding 44% to 246.29 bcf in 2013 from 439.46 bcf the previous year, exports at Emerson, Manitoba, made a partial recovery to a total of 330.53 bcf in 2014.
In 2010, a total of 452.73 bcf was exported at Emerson.
At the same time, exports at the Sumas/Huntingdon, B.C., port continued to rise in 2014, totalling 337.93 bcf, up 8% from 311.63 bcf in 2013 and up 16% from 290.9 bcf in 2010.
Natural gas prices averaged US$5.92 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2014 compared with $4.06 per MMBtu in 2013. However, the 2014 average included prices of $11.08 and $9.74 per MMBtu in January and February, respectively, when lengthy periods of cold weather and tight storage drove up prices.
A total of 754 bcf of gas was imported into Canada in 2014, down from 901 bcf in 2013. •
– Canadian LNG Bulletin
