Spanish LNG imports dropped by 18.8 percent in February when compared to the same month last year, according to Enagas.
LNG imports reached about 21.4 TWh in February and accounted for 67.4 percent of the total gas imports. In January, LNG imports reached some 23.3 TWh.
Including pipeline imports from Algeria and France, gas imports to Spain reached about 31.8 TWh last month, down from some 37.9 TWh in February last year, Enagas said in its monthly report.
Moreover, gas demand in February dropped slightly by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 38.4 TWh.
Demand for power generation declined by 3.6 percent year-on-year to 9 TWh last month, while conventional demand dropped by 3.4 percent to 24.5 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.
Enagas is working to launch its El Musel LNG facility in Gijon with the capacity to unload and load 100 carriers per year, and will sell 25 percent in this facility to Reganosa.
US, Russia biggest LNG suppliers
The six operational Spanish LNG regasification terminals unloaded 25 cargoes last month, two cargoes less when compared to February 2022, according to Enagas.
US remains the biggest supplier of LNG to Spain with some 7.2 TWh or about 22.8 percent of the total gas and LNG imports in February. US LNG supplies dropped considerably when compared to 12.4 TWh last year, the data shows.
On the other hand, LNG volumes from Russia jumped 151 percent to 5.46 TWh last month from 2.17 TWh in February 2022.
Also, Nigerian LNG volumes dipped from 8 TWh in February 2022 to 2.79 TWh last month.
Other LNG sources in February include Qatar, Cameroon, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, and Equatorial Guinea, the data shows.
LNG reloads
Spanish LNG terminals loaded about 1.55 TWh in February, compared to some 2.04 TWh in February 2022.
The Sagunto LNG terminal reloaded about 0.55 TWh of LNG, followed by Barcelona with about 0.47 TWh, and Cartagena with 0.42 TWh.
Also, the number of truck loads at the LNG terminals dropped by 8.9 percent year-on-year to 980, the data shows.
Enagas previously said that the loading of LNG carriers from Spanish terminals increased by 44.9 percent year-on-year in 2022 to 24.8 TWh.
Many of these reloads have been destined for other EU countries, such as Italy or Germany, the firm said.