Tokyo Electric's April fuel consumption falls 43.3% from March

Tokyo Electric's April fuel consumption falls 43.3% from March

Tokyo (Platts)--12May2006

Tokyo Electric Power's low sulfur fuel oil consumption in April has
fallen 43.3% from March to 208,000 kl (1.31 million barrels or 176,800 mt), a
Tepco spokesman said Friday, citing the ongoing slow demand season. The volume
was down 32.2% from April 2005.
Japan is in the middle of its off-demand season for power generation,
which usually lasts between March and June. The current season contrasts to
winter, between December and February, when the weather has a direct impact on
fuel consumption as power utilities consume crude and fuel oil as feedstocks
for thermal power generation. Electricity demand tends to rise when the
weather is colder.
Tepco's crude consumption in April stood at 138,000 kl (867,882 barrels),
down 25% from March, but up 15% year on year. The utility's LNG consumption in
April was 1.23 million mt, down 2.9% from March, but up 2.3% year on year.
Meanwhile, Tepco's LSFO procurement in April fell 38.8% from March to
315,000 kl. The figure was 10.5% higher year on year, however.
The utility's April crude procurement was 203,000 kl, down 42% from March
but up 6.3% on the year. LNG procurement in April fell 1.8% from March to 1.15
million mt and was 5.7% lower year on year.
Tepco has 10.308 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity at 17 units across
Japan. It has 36.094 gigawatts of thermal generation capacity. The company has
had to lean especially heavily on thermal generation since the nuclear data
cover-up scandal of August 2002, which forced it to shut all its nuclear units
one by one for inspections and repairs.
TEPCO normally buys 0.2-0.3% sulfur fuel oil and Minas crude as feedstock
for its thermal power plants. It also uses LNG and coal for thermal power
generation.

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