Daily natural gas consumption in the province has tied the current record of 1.50 PetaJoules (PJ), SaskEnergy said Friday.
This record, set in the 24-hour period between 9 a.m. Feb. 7 and 9 a.m. Feb. 8, ties the record set on Dec. 30, 2017, a release from SaskEnergy states.
The 1.50 PJ natural gas consumption record is due to high natural gas consumption from residential, business and industrial customers – especially the natural gas load from power production, enhanced oil recovery and mining, says SaskEnergy.
A PetaJoule is a unit of measurement equivalent to one million GigaJoules (GJ) of natural gas – the average home in Saskatchewan consumes about 100 GJ of natural gas annually.
Record-setting natural gas usage days are happening more frequently due to customer growth, says SaskEnergy. It’s pipeline system is designed around this increased growth, ensuring additional capacity so that even on peak record days, the system is able to provide more natural gas than required, the release adds.
“SaskEnergy employees work throughout the year to inspect, maintain and upgrade the province’s natural gas delivery system so that it can operate safely and efficiently regardless of the weather conditions,” says the release.
The system is monitored 24 hours a day to manage peak demands such as the winter weather conditions Saskatchewan has been experiencing, says SaskEnergy.
