UK has enough gas, says No.10 after supply warning
The UK has enough gas to meet demand, the government said, after British Gas owner Centrica warned supplies were “worryingly low”.
Centrica, which owns the UK’s largest gas storage facility, said the UK had “less than a week’s worth of stored gas demand” due to colder than usual weather.
The government said it would monitor energy levels and said it had “all the tools” at its disposal “if needed to secure our supplies”.
The UK can buy more supplies from continental Europe if needed.
Centrica said UK storage facilities currently have around half as much gas as they need.
It’s freezing weather for the UK, but the Met Office said “our weather will start to change” on Friday.
Natural gas inventory levels are under pressure due to cold weather conditions and the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine late last month.
The UK’s natural gas storage capacity is relatively small.
Around half of the production capacity is located at the Centrica Rough plant near the East Yorkshire coast.
The project was closed in 2017 but reopened in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered an energy crisis.
There are also LNG storage facilities at three terminals and other smaller facilities across the country.
Centrica wants to invest £2bn in the Rough facility so it can use it to store hydrogen as the UK begins to reduce gas flaring as part of green targets.
It has been urging the government to say hydrogen will be part of the UK’s future energy mix to justify the investment.
