Between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023, national demand for petroleum products fell by 3% to 3,705 thousand tons of oil equivalent (ktoe), according to the October 2023 energy outlook published by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.
Demand for fuel oil fell by 20%, petrol by 3% and diesel by 7%. On the other hand, demand for jet fuel rose by 19% and petcoke by 11%.
The structure of petroleum product consumption did not change significantly between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023, with the exception of a few products, notably fuel oil, whose share rose from 5% to 4%.
This also applies to diesel, whose share went down from 46% to 44% over the same period, and petcoke, which rose from 11% to 12%, in addition to jet fuel, whose share rose from 5% to 6% over the same period (October 2022).
Consumption of road fuels, which accounts for 62% of total consumption of petroleum products, declined by 6% between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023.
LPG consumption remained virtually stable between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023.
Consumption of petroleum coke, which is used exclusively by cement works and can be substituted by natural gas and heavy fuel oil, increased by 11% between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023.
On the other hand, the consumption of jet aviation recorded a significant increase of 19% at the end of October 2023 compared with the same period of the previous year, following the revival of activities in the air transport sector, which had been severely affected by the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Total natural gas demand down 4% to end-October 2023
Total demand for natural gas fell by 4% between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023, to 4,019 ktoe.
Demand for electricity generation fell by 3%, due to the limited availability of natural gas, and does not reflect demand from the electricity sector.
The power generation sector remains by far the largest consumer of natural gas (73% of total demand at the end of September 2023), with over 97% of power generation based on natural gas.
For end uses (excluding power generation), natural gas demand fell by 8% to 1,100 ktoe. Demand from medium- and low-pressure customers fell by 5% and demand from high-pressure customers by 16%.
It should be noted that the IPP-Radès plant will join STEG’s fleet in June 2022.
The overall specific consumption of electricity generation facilities (STEG+IPP) improved by 1.1% between the end of October 2022 and the end of October 2023, reaching 200.5 toe/GWh (Gigawatt-hour).
Moreover, electricity production from natural gas declined by 2%, while demand for natural gas in the electricity sector fell by 3%.
At the end of October 2023, combined cycles accounted for 78% of electricity generation, compared with 77% at the end of October 2022.
