Scaleyback
Veteran
- Location
- North Yorkshire
A little background on the volatile Gas industry in the UK.
You must have noticed the meteroic rise in energy costs ? my dual gas & electric costs are 40% higher than a year ago !
I worked for the then nationalised British Gas for many years in Transco within the gas transmission network. After privatisation I 'snatched' at early retirement at the 1st chance. It was already apparent that decisions that would previously always be taken by engineers i.e safety and continuity of supply were now being taken by 'bean counters' (accountants)
The UK's main gas storage facility the Rough field which provided 70% of the UK's gas storage capacity was closed in 2017 after a Conservative government decision not to subsidise the cost of maintenance.
Many experts (then and now) lambasted this decision as short-sighted and highlighted the long term dangers.
That closure reduced Britain's buffer against price moves and left it at the mercy of global markets. ... When Centrica closed Rough, no other storage facilities were built.
N:B Rough storage was a depleted gas field in which gas was pumped back in for security of supplies
The UK's stores hold enough gas to meet the demand of four to five winter days, or just 1% of Europe's total available storage. The Netherlands has capacity more than nine times the UK's, while Germany's is 16 times the size. Britain's continental neighbours also have lower gas market prices, we no longer have the storage to alleviate market fluctuations and are forced to purchase gas at current maket prices.
We are now importing around 60% of our gas from Europe. N:B Russia supplys 50% of Europe's gas.
Experts report Russia is restricting supplies to Europe which is part of the reason for the large price rise.
As our off sea gas supplies continue to run down we will increasingly become dependent upon Russia for continuinty of gas supplies.
Does this give you a warm 'fuzzy' feeling ?
or was it in 'The national interest' to keep adequate gas storage supplies ?
You must have noticed the meteroic rise in energy costs ? my dual gas & electric costs are 40% higher than a year ago !
I worked for the then nationalised British Gas for many years in Transco within the gas transmission network. After privatisation I 'snatched' at early retirement at the 1st chance. It was already apparent that decisions that would previously always be taken by engineers i.e safety and continuity of supply were now being taken by 'bean counters' (accountants)
The UK's main gas storage facility the Rough field which provided 70% of the UK's gas storage capacity was closed in 2017 after a Conservative government decision not to subsidise the cost of maintenance.
Many experts (then and now) lambasted this decision as short-sighted and highlighted the long term dangers.
That closure reduced Britain's buffer against price moves and left it at the mercy of global markets. ... When Centrica closed Rough, no other storage facilities were built.
N:B Rough storage was a depleted gas field in which gas was pumped back in for security of supplies
The UK's stores hold enough gas to meet the demand of four to five winter days, or just 1% of Europe's total available storage. The Netherlands has capacity more than nine times the UK's, while Germany's is 16 times the size. Britain's continental neighbours also have lower gas market prices, we no longer have the storage to alleviate market fluctuations and are forced to purchase gas at current maket prices.
We are now importing around 60% of our gas from Europe. N:B Russia supplys 50% of Europe's gas.
Experts report Russia is restricting supplies to Europe which is part of the reason for the large price rise.
As our off sea gas supplies continue to run down we will increasingly become dependent upon Russia for continuinty of gas supplies.
Does this give you a warm 'fuzzy' feeling ?
or was it in 'The national interest' to keep adequate gas storage supplies ?
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Well we need not worry now ! Best get his bahookie down to the Holderness coast and sort that out first 
