Spanish liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and reloads both increased in March when compared to the same month last year, according to Enagas.
LNG imports rose by 12.2 percent to about 29.9 TWh in March and accounted for 79 percent of the total gas imports. In February, LNG imports reached some 21.4 TWh.
Including pipeline imports from Algeria and France, gas imports to Spain reached about 37.9 TWh last month, a rise from some 37.6 TWh in March last year, Enagas said in its monthly report.
Moreover, gas demand in March dropped slightly by 1.7 percent year-on-year to 36.3 TWh.
Demand for power generation declined by 17 percent year-on-year to 6.3 TWh last month, while conventional demand dropped by 15.8 percent to 22.2 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, Nigeria, Russia biggest LNG suppliers
The six operational Spanish LNG regasification terminals unloaded 35 cargoes last month, 9 cargoes more when compared to March 2022, according to Enagas.
US remains the biggest supplier of LNG to Spain with some 11 TWh or about 29.1 percent of the total gas and LNG imports in March. US LNG supplies dropped when compared to 16.2 TWh last year, the data shows.
On the other hand, LNG volumes from Nigeria and Russia rose by 103.5 percent and 66.6 percent to 5.92 TWh and 5.46 TWh.
Other LNG sources in March include Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Oman, and Equatorial Guinea, the data shows.
LNG reloads
Spanish LNG terminals loaded about 2.23 TWh in March, compared to just 67 GWh in March 2022, and about 1.55 TWh in February this year.
The Sagunto LNG terminal reloaded about 0.90 TWh of LNG, followed by Barcelona with about 0.77 TWh, and Cartagena with 0.48 TWh.
Also, the number of truck loads at the LNG terminals dropped by 2 percent year-on-year to 1143, 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.