Skangas’ LNG deliveries rise in 2015

Skangas, a unit of Finnish Gasum, delivered 33 percent more liquefied natural gas last year than in 2014.

In 2015, a total of 376,700 tonnes (5.2 TWh) of LNG was delivered by Skangas in Finland, Sweden and Norway, Gasum said in a statement issued on Monday.

“The reasons for this increase in sales include the opening of the Lysekil import terminal in Sweden at the beginning of the year and the many new shipping and industrial customers acquired by the company,” Gasum said.

According to Gasum, construction progress of the Pori LNG terminal and the Manga Tornio joint terminal project is being made according to plan. The Pori terminal is expected to start operations in August 2016.

”We reached a major increase in LNG and biogas volumes last year, while at the same time the consumption of natural gas decreased. We’re determined to ensure our customers’ access to competitive energy and are constantly working hard to achieve this. The gas system needs to be developed as a whole, and gas production and sourcing channels must be diversified. We’ll continue to provide a strong contribution to the development of the competitiveness of gas and the Nordic gas ecosystem,” says Gasum CEO Johanna Lamminen.

Gas consumption in Finland

Finland’s total gas consumption declined 10 percent to 26 TWh. The rate of consumption was affected considerably by the warm weather seen throughout the year, Gasum said.

“The long-prevailing low price trend seen in the Nordic electricity market and emissions trading still continued in 2015, further reducing the competitiveness of natural gas in combined heat and power (CHP) production – most of all against coal, the world market price of which is very low.”

The price competitiveness of gas in energy production has been poor in recent years. This is due to several factors including emissions allowance price level, the low price of electricity, and Finnish energy taxation, according to Gasum.

Electricity price remained low throughout the year, and market quotes for electricity price have remained low all the way up to 2021.

This resulted in “poor profitability” in combined heat and power (CHP) production, which also had a direct impact on natural gas demand.

Finnish investments in renewable energy and the utilization of waste in heat and power production continued, replacing the use of natural gas.

The recent steep fall in the price of oil has also been a contributing factor affecting the price of natural gas. Consequently, the energy charge of natural gas decreased by more than 30 percent in 2015, Gasum added.

LNG World News Staff