Energy growth slows as electricity sales drop

Energy consumption climbed 4.2 percent from a year earlier to the equivalent of 10.1 million kiloliters of oil, or about 2 million barrels a day, the Bureau of Energy in Taipei said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The growth was the slowest since the 3.5 percent increase in November.

Industrial production expanded 5.33 percent from a year earlier in May, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said June 24. That’s the smallest since April last year. Industrial and energy companies account for about 60 percent of Taiwan’s power consumption, which dropped 1.2 percent in May, according to the energy bureau.

“The lower demand for electricity should be related to the economic conditions,” said Clint Chou, a spokesman for Taiwan Power Co., the island’s only electricity retailer. “Sales to industrial and commercial users slid.”

The island’s power consumption fell to 19.3 billion kilowatt-hours in May, with demand by industrial and energy companies 2.6 percent lower than a year earlier.

Nanya Technology, based in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on June 4 that May sales fell 11 percent from a year earlier.

Energy use in the first five months of the year rose 6.1 percent to the equivalent of 47.9 million kiloliters of oil, the energy bureau said.

Taiwan bought 99 percent of its energy needs from overseas in May. Crude oil imports fell 18 percent from a year earlier to 4.09 million kiloliters, while those of petroleum products surged 45 percent to the equivalent of 1.64 million kiloliters of oil, the bureau said.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp. and CPC Corp., Taiwan’s only oil refiners, used 84 percent of their crude distillation capacity in May, more than the 68 percent in April, the bureau said. Crude oil processing fell 6.3 percent from a year earlier to 4.88 million kiloliters in May.

Coal imports increased 6.8 percent to 5.47 million metric tons, according to the bureau. The island’s purchases of liquefied natural gas increased 2.9 percent to 1.06 billion cubic meters. LNG accounted for 97 percent of gas supply.

In the first five months, imports of crude oil fell 5.2 percent to 21.9 million kiloliters and LNG purchases increased 14 percent to 4.52 billion cubic meters. Coal imports climbed 2.3 percent to 26 million tons.

LNG is natural gas that is chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume at minus 161 degrees Celsius (minus 259 Fahrenheit) for transportation by ship to destinations not connected by pipeline. It is turned back into gas for distribution to power plants, factories and households.

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