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Page added on May 24, 2013
All hail Gazpromia: UK gas supply six hours from running out in March
Britain came within six hours of running out of natural gas in March, according to a senior energy official, highlighting the risk of supply shortages amid declining domestic production and a growing reliance on imports.
“We really only had six hours’ worth of gas left in storage as a buffer,” said Rob Hastings, director of energy and infrastructure at the Crown Estate, the property portfolio managed on behalf of the Queen. “If it had run any lower it would have meant . . . interruptions to supply.”
The Crown Estate owns the rights to gas storage sites under the UK seabed including Rough, the UK’s largest gas storage facility. Rough is leased by Centrica, owner of British Gas.
British wholesale gas prices surged to a record in late March, after a technical fault temporarily shut down one of the main import pipelines. The disruption coincided with a period of low gas storage levels as persistent wintry weather drove up demand for gas.
The price spike triggered fears that household energy bills could rise this year. SSE, one of the big six power suppliers, warned on Wednesday that consumers should brace themselves for higher bills “unless there is a sustained reduction in prices in wholesale gas and electricity markets”.
Mr Hastings backed that view: “We are likely to find gas prices rise by a lot in a year.”
The March price volatility highlighted Britain’s vulnerability to supply disruptions as its own gas production declines and it becomes more dependent on imports, especially pipeline gas from Norway and the Netherlands. The UK, which once received almost all its gas from the North Sea, became a net importer in 2004.
The country also has relatively low levels of gas storage. Some forecasts suggest that storage capacity will have to double by 2020 to ensure security of gas supply in winter, when demand peaks.
Mr Hastings’ view on the danger the UK faced in March is, however, disputed by others. “It is true that there wasn’t a huge amount of storage left – but there never is at the end of winter,” said Nick Winser, executive director of National Grid. “The UK has low storage levels by international standards, but there is a large diversity of [supply] sources. Our gas supply resilience is quite substantial.”
He added that the market worked as it should in March, with rising prices attracting supplies from other sources such as LNG.
According to Mr Winser, March gas demand was running at 350-370m cubic metres a day, while the UK’s import system was capable of delivering 530 mcm/d without storage.
8 Comments on "All hail Gazpromia: UK gas supply six hours from running out in March"
TIKIMAN on Fri, 24th May 2013 12:51 pm
I thought all those wind farms they built were supposed to fix this… GUESS FUCKING NOT!
Arthur on Fri, 24th May 2013 2:10 pm
With ever passing year, increased amounts of gas and oil will be imported from Russia, via continental pipelines. You are sure you want to leave the EU, Britain?
The British have very ambitious plans regarding wind energy and I hope they succeed. But it is not difficult to plan…
http://deepresource.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/gargantuan-32-gw-wind-projects-underway-in-the-uk/
Kenz300 on Fri, 24th May 2013 2:14 pm
It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy sources.
Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made form algae, cellulose and waste can all be produced LOCALLY providing local jobs.
It is time to diversify the sources and types of fuel available.
simonr on Fri, 24th May 2013 3:38 pm
>> I thought all those wind farms they built were supposed to fix this… GUESS FUCKING NOT!
I do not think windmill make gas …. could be wrong though
DC on Fri, 24th May 2013 6:23 pm
What is left out of this article, is how quickly the UK squandered its North Sea gas. I dont have figures at hand, but I am willing to bet what the UK couldn’t consume itself, was sold to the lowest bidder. Which is typical of all large oil fields. This helps explain why all but the largest ‘finds’ are gone so fast. W/e the local administrative area cant consume fast enough, is piped out to other areas that can. What does the local area often do with the money made from exports? Well besides enriching the FF executives and the shareholder class, the wider public response is to simply buy and install even more gas-powered public or private assets with the ‘windfall’.
Oil, bottom line, is not a resource to managed prudently, to last as long as possible, but rather is a commodity to be pulled out of the ground/ocean and set fire to and maximum possible rate.
Beery on Fri, 24th May 2013 9:57 pm
Oh my God! If this gets worse British people might have to wear pullovers during winter like our parents and grandparents did in the 1950s before central air conditioning became common – THE HORROR!
This is old news. We’ve been through this story before. Britain is a temperate climate and while it gets a bit chilly (around freezing) in winter, in March doesn’t even drop below freezing except at night. Even if this had happened in January it would not have been an emergency. The UK is not North Dakota.
BillT on Sat, 25th May 2013 2:04 am
Beery, you have the right idea. But if the Gulf Stream changes, the impact will be profound. Most of Europe is North of Washington DC’s latitude. If it swings toward the North Pole, the waters will cool before coming back along Europe’s coast. If it drops South, there will be no warming waters at all and Europe will be like Canada with similar temperatures.
Now that Russia holds the keys to their survival, I can see why they (EU) want a new pipeline from the south … but Russia is going to prevent that for as long as possible. Europe’s energy just got more expensive and scarce.
Kenz300 on Sat, 25th May 2013 4:31 pm
Local energy sources provide local jobs.
Britain need both energy and jobs.
Importing natural gas from Russia is not a long term solution.
Quote — ” Renewables are becoming too competitive for fossil fuels.
Forbes has quoted Rick Needham, director of energy and sustainability at Google saying, “While fossil-based prices are on a cost curve that goes up, renewable prices are on this march downward.” That pretty much sums it up. In just the last five years, solar photovoltaic module prices have fallen 80 percent and wind turbines have become 29 percent less expensive. Moreover, after the initial investment, renewables such as wind and solar, having no cost of fuel, will prove far too competitive for fossil fuels no matter how cheap those may appear to be. Cheap fuel is still more than free fuel.”
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STORY: The Economic Case for Divesting from Fossil Fuels
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/05/the-economic-case-for-divesting-from-fossil-fuels?page=2