Natural gas trade between Canada and the United States revived in both directions during mid-2012 but still had far to go to regain all the ground lost in the global economic recession, according to a scorecard kept by the U.S. Department of Energy.

In the July 1-Sept. 30 third quarter of 2012, Canadian deliveries into the United States increased by 5.6% to 795 Bcf from 752 Bcf in the second quarter of 2012.

Prices rose faster, according to the latest edition of the scorecard kept by the department’s Office of Fossil Energy, which issues mandatory licenses for cross-border gas trade in all directions and tracks performance under them.

Canadian pipeline exports fetched an average US$2.60/MMBtu in third quarter 2012 at the international border, up 23% from the second quarter 2012 low of US$2.12/MMBtu.

At the same time, northbound U.S. gas deliveries into Canada held firm at 219 Bcf in third quarter 2012, down by only a marginal 0.6% from 220 Bcf in second quarter 2012.

The slight slippage in U.S. exports to Canada was more than offset by an increase in pipeline shipments to Mexico, which rose by 11.3% to 174 Bcf in third quarter 2012 from 156 Bcf in second quarter 2012.

International dealers in U.S. gas more than matched the price gains chalked up by their Canadian counterparts. U.S. exports to Canada in third quarter 2012 fetched US$3.06/MMBtu, up 25% from US$2.45/MMBtu in second quarter 2012.

On the southern end of the North American continental trade, U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico averaged US$2.99/MMBtu in third quarter 2012, or 22% more than the second quarter 2012 low of US$2.45/MMBtu.

But the continental gas trade still looks bleak when the picture is painted with year-to-date comparisons between 2012 and 2011.

During the first three quarters of 2012, Canadian exports to the U.S. dropped by 4% to 2.3 Tcf from 2.4 Tcf in the same Jan. 1-Sept. 30 period of 2011.

Canadian exports lost value faster than their volume shrank during the 2011-2012 gas trade slide. Average border prices for southbound deliveries into the U.S. dropped by 40% to US$2.49/MMBtu during the first three quarters of 2012 from US$4.18/MMBtu in the same Jan. 1-Sept. 30 period of 2011.

U.S. northbound export volumes held up better by hovering at 702 Bcf of pipeline deliveries into Canada during the first three quarters of both 2012 and 2011.

But on the pricing front, U.S. gas merchants endured almost as much decay as their Canadian counterparts.

American exports to Canada fetched an average US$2.83/MMBtu during the first three quarters of 2012, down by 38% from the comparable Jan. 1-Sept. 30 period of 2011.

U.S. pipeline deliveries into Mexico rose by 22% to 458 Bcf in the first three quarters of 2012 from 376 Bcf in the same period of 2011. But the value of the southern trade shrank as U.S. exports to Mexico averaged US$2.74/MMBtu in the first three quarters of 2012, down 37% from US$4.37/MMBtu in the same period of 2011.

Overall, total U.S. imports of gas from all sources were down by 9% to 2.5 Tcf in the first three quarters of 2012 from 2.7 Tcf in the same period of 2011. U.S. exports to all destinations rose by 4% to 1.2 Tcf in first three quarters 2012 from 1.1 Tcf in the comparable period of 2011.

Import prices were down at a sharply reduced overall average of US$2.55/MMBtu during the first three quarters of 2012 from US$4.27/MMBtu in the same period of 2011.

Trade in liquefied natural gas (LNG) almost vanished. Tanker deliveries to U.S. ports sank by 52% to 133 Bcf in the first three quarters of 2012 from 277 Bcf during the same period of 2011. LNG exports from the U.S. plunged by 68% to 18 Bcf in the first three quarters of 2012 from 57 Bcf in Jan. 1-Sept. 30 of 2011.

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