Are they really this bad. So let's make it a gas, man.
North Sea gas production has fallen due to maintenance shutdowns and Covid limitations.
Is a bit of a simplification, and really only applies to the last year or so, while our own gas production has been falling for far longer, as the more easily tapped reserves are exhausted.
To prop up our gas habit we are bringing in increasing quantities from abroad, including tankers from places like Qatar, as well as via pipeline from the continent.
For a while we were using the Rough field (really an underground salt cavern) as our largest store, and filling it in summer to run it down in winter to tide over the period that production did not meet demand. Unfortunately in the last few years it has developed a number of leaks, and had to be shut. Periodically there is talk of trying to get it back into a useable state, but being 27km off the Yorkshire coast and km down makes fixing it tricky/expensive.
The practical upshot is that we have never been more dependant on other countries for our gas supplies.
This is not new, and was predicted years ago, as this rather telling, if dated graphic shows.
I'll try and find a newer one.
Mike.
North Sea gas production has fallen due to maintenance shutdowns and Covid limitations.
Is a bit of a simplification, and really only applies to the last year or so, while our own gas production has been falling for far longer, as the more easily tapped reserves are exhausted.
To prop up our gas habit we are bringing in increasing quantities from abroad, including tankers from places like Qatar, as well as via pipeline from the continent.
For a while we were using the Rough field (really an underground salt cavern) as our largest store, and filling it in summer to run it down in winter to tide over the period that production did not meet demand. Unfortunately in the last few years it has developed a number of leaks, and had to be shut. Periodically there is talk of trying to get it back into a useable state, but being 27km off the Yorkshire coast and km down makes fixing it tricky/expensive.
The practical upshot is that we have never been more dependant on other countries for our gas supplies.
This is not new, and was predicted years ago, as this rather telling, if dated graphic shows.
I'll try and find a newer one.
Mike.