Natural gas import volumes increase by 4.9 per cent in April

Import volumes of natural gas in the last month increased by 4.9 per cent compared with April last year to 456 gigawatt-hours, with Elering estimates showing that imports from Lithuania made up 11 per cent of natural gas supplied.

The smallest daily volume of natural gas reaching Estonia was 8.6 and the largest 18.6 gigawatt-hours.

In April Elering’s domestic transmission service volume grew by 7.1 per cent compared with previous years and totalled 457 gigawatt-hours. Growth was fuelled by weather that was cooler by more than two degrees compared with last year. Transmission pipeline reserve capacity fell by 7.8 per cent year-on-year, reaching 48 gigawatt-hours by the end of the month.

Gas transit through the southeast Estonian natural gas pipeline did not occur this April. During the same period last year, transit gas passed through the southeast Estonian natural gas pipeline from Latvia to Russia, totalling 606 gigawatt-hours at the time.

On the Lithuanian GET Baltic gas exchange, the average gas price last month was 18.86 euros per megawatt-hour. On the Finnish Kaasupörssi, the equivalent price was 20.63 euros per megawatt-hour.

A total of 1044 gigawatt-hours of gas was pumped out of the Inčukalns underground gas reservoir in Latvia during April. The gas storage facility was at 15.6 per cent of capacity at the end of the month.

As a result of the initial April balance settlement, balance providers’ portfolios totalled the following based on consumption: