Updated May 2022
The natural gas industry uses commercial storage to manage seasonal gas deliveries. Storage is used to absorb excess gas production in summer and offset peak demand shortages in winter. The AER does not forecast natural gas storage volumes in projections of long-term gas production.
Several pools in Alberta are used for commercial natural gas storage as an efficient means of balancing supply with fluctuating market demand. Other gas storage schemes in the province are not included.
Storage and injections and withdrawals in 2021 were as follows:
- Storage: Levels were about 4 per cent below the five-year average.
- Injections and withdrawals: Withdrawal for all storage schemes exceeded injections by 2889 million cubic metres (106 m3); this is equivalent to 16 days of average domestic demand. This was the result of an increase in Alberta's gas demand across various end users as the economy began recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Table S5.4 lists the commercial natural gas storage pools in Alberta in 2021, including capacity, injection, and withdrawal volumes.
Figure S5.8 shows the locations of all existing commercial gas storage facilities and the border delivery and export points for gas removals in Alberta.
Learn More
- Methodology
- Data [XLSX]