Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that upon arrival of the Autumn and Winter in the fourth quarter of 2010, consumption (10,853 tonnes) and imports (10,644 tonnes) of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased by 29.1% and 38.5% respectively quarter-to-quarter; besides, the average price of imports rising by 11.3% to MOP8.42 per kg. For the whole year of 2010, imports (39,987 tonnes) and consumption (40,744 tonnes) of LPG went up by 1.1% and 2.5% respectively year-on-year, of which consumption by the Business sector (26,956 tonnes) increased by 10.1%, but that by Households (13,543 tonnes) decreased by 9.4%. In the fourth quarter of 2010, imports of Electricity decreased by 28.1% quarter-to-quarter to 603 million kWh, accounting for 70.0% of the total available supply; local generation of Electricity stood at 271 million kWh, down by 27.7% from the previous quarter; meanwhile, consumption of Electricity decreased by 25.2% to 838 million kWh. For the whole year of 2010, total consumption of Electricity (3.655 billion kWh) went up by 5.5% year-on-year, of which consumption by the Business sector increased by 7.0% to 2.792 billion kWh (Gaming sector shared 46.4%) and that by Households rose by 2.1% to 697 million kWh. Local generation of Electricity totalled 1.077 billion kWh in 2010, down by 26.5% year-on-year, while imports of Electricity (2.786 billion kWh) increased by 25.1%. Imports of Natural Gas for electricity generation decreased by 24.3% from the previous quarter to 42.30 million cubic metres in the fourth quarter. For the whole year of 2010, imports of Natural Gas totalled 155 million cubic metres, up notably by 65.5% year-on-year, indicating an increase in the usage of natural gas for electricity generation. In 2010, the average price of all types of fuels increased compared with 2009, with that of Bottled LPG and Unleaded Gasoline rising by 17.9% and 10.6% respectively year-on-year. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, stock of Fuel Oil (12.66 million litres), Gas oil & diesel (21.14 million litres) and LPG (2,113 tonnes) registered quarter-to-quarter decrease of 35.7%, 11.6% and 7.6% respectively.
