Press release 15.1.2010

Natural gas year 2009:

Industrial natural gas consumption decreased while consumption at municipal power stations increased at the turn of the year

Finnish natural gas consumption decreased on the year before in 2009. Gasum sold a total of 40.6 TWh of natural gas in 2009, down 10% on the 2008 figure. Imports of natural gas totalled 4.3 billion m³. The year’s highest peak in consumption – 19.6 million m³ – was seen on 15 December 2009.

The very first week of 2010 broke a new record in natural gas consumption: Friday 8 January from 10:00 to 11:00 am saw the highest hourly consumption in Finnish history: more than 9 000 MW. That Friday also got very close to record levels in terms of daily consumption, reaching the second-largest consumption ever at 20.3 million m³. The previous record was from 2003 when a total of 20.4 million m³ was consumed on 4 January.

Despite the record levels of January, Gasum anticipates moderate development in natural gas consumption for 2010, expecting natural gas consumption to reach around 42 TWh. The economic recession is likely to further affect industrial consumption levels. Opened in late 2009, Fortum’s Suomenoja plant is likely to increase municipal natural gas consumption this year.