U.S. pays C$28 billion for Canadian gas in last contract year

Gary Park

Just how important Canadian gas exports are on both sides of the border is captured in the latest National Energy Board statistics, showing sales for the 2000-01 contract year of 3.85 trillion cubic feet and revenues at a staggering C$28.55 billion.

The sales year, which ended Oct. 31, 2001, far outpaced the returns for the previous two years of C$16.62 billion on sales of 3.50 trillion cubic feet and C$10.44 billion from exports of 3.29 tcf.

The exports of 3.85 tcf contributed towards total U.S. consumption for the year of 19.58 tcf, which was down 6 percent from the previous year.

The revenue gains were boosted by last winter’s sky-high prices lifted the average for the year to C$6.91 per gigajoule from C$4.42 and C$2.95 the previous two years.

The peak months were December 2000 and January 2001, when prices averaged a breathtaking C$10.14 and C$13.06 versus C$3.13 and C$3.12 in the same months of the 1999-2000 contract year.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has forecast a slight rise in Canadian gas imports this year, followed by a solid 10 percent increase in 2003 as demands resumes a growth curve.

Posting the strongest increases in Canadian gas consumption for 2000-01 were the U.S. Midwest, which grew by more than 14 percent to 1.49 tcf, and the U.S. Northeast, up by almost 18 percent to 1.15 tcf.

Underpinning those surges were the Alliance pipeline, shipping 1.5 billion cubic feet per day from British Columbia to Chicago, and Nova Scotia’s Sable Offshore Energy Project, which now delivers 550 million cubic feet per day to New England.