Spanish liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped in May, while reloads rose when compared to the same month last year, according to Enagas.
LNG imports declined by 12.8 percent to about 24.7 TWh in May and accounted for 71.4 percent of the total gas imports. In April, LNG imports reached some 29.9 TWh.
Including pipeline imports from Algeria and Portugal, gas imports to Spain reached about 34.7 TWh last month, a drop from some 36.6 TWh in May last year, Enagas said in its monthly report.
Moreover, national gas demand in May dropped by 4.6 percent year-on-year to 24.5 TWh.
Demand for power generation declined by 7.6 percent year-on-year to about 6.92 TWh last month, while conventional demand dropped by 3.4 percent to 17.6 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 planning to launch its El Musel LNG terminal in Gijon in July this year, and it recently secured approval from the government.
Russia biggest LNG supplier, US volumes dip
The six operational Spanish LNG regasification terminals unloaded 26 cargoes last month, 5 cargoes less when compared to May 2022, according to Enagas.
Russia was the biggest supplier of LNG to Spain in May with 9.66 TWh, a jump from 3.28 TWh last year. Russian volumes accounted for 27.8 percent of all of the Spanish gas imports in May, the data shows.
The Bonny LNG plant in Nigeria supplied some 6.81 TWh to Spain last month, up from 4.94 TWh in May 2022, while US volumes nosedived from about 13 TWh in May 2022 to 1.96 TWh last month.
Other LNG sources in May include Algeria, Trinidad, Angola, Peru, and Qatar, the data shows.
LNG reloads rise
Spanish LNG terminals loaded about 2.16 TWh in May, up 46 percent compared to some 1.49 TWh in May 2022, and also up when compared to 1.6 TWh in April.
The Cartagena LNG terminal reloaded about 0.95 TWh of LNG, followed by Bilbao with about 0.60 TWh, and Mugardos with 0.40 TWh.
Also, the number of truck loads at the LNG terminals rose by 9.4 percent year-on-year to 932, the data shows.
The Barcelona LNG terminal completed 202 truck loads in May, up by 8.6 percent year-on-year, followed by Huelva with 184 truck loads and Cartagena with 159 truck loads.