Great Britain has only two days of gas stored as Iran war disrupts supplies | Gas
Due to the change in route of tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Europe to Asia due to the Iran war, the UK has only two days’ worth of natural gas after the decrease in energy reserves.
Great Britain had 6,999 gigawatt hours (GWh) of natural gas stored on Saturday, according to figures from National Gas, which owns and operates the national gas transmission system. This compares with 9,105 GWh a year ago.
The fact that the maximum capacity is 12 days of gas and current storage levels correspond to two days of reserves raises concerns that Great Britain may run out of gas if the crisis in the Middle East escalates further.
But National Gas said Great Britain continued to buy large quantities of gas from other sources even if storage stocks were low.
A National Gas spokesman said: “The UK’s gas storage levels are generally in line with what we would expect at this point in the year and are comparable to this time last year. It is important to remember that storage makes up only a small part of Britain’s diverse gas supply mix. The majority of our gas comes from the UK continental shelf and Norway, complemented by LNG, interconnections with continental Europe and storage.
“Great Britain benefits from a wide range of supply sources that the market taps into every day. Together, these provide the flexibility needed to reliably balance supply and demand throughout the year.”
At least two tankers have headed from Europe to Asia across the mid-Atlantic since Friday. Ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. This comes after three similar diversions last week.
Gas prices have risen since the United States and Israel launched intense air strikes on Iran a week ago. Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global seaborne gas shipments pass. Qatar stopped production at the world’s largest LNG facility after a drone attack last week.
LNG prices rose last week in Asia, which imports most of Qatar’s gas exports. Monthly gas prices in the UK rose to 137 pence per therm last week, from 78.5 pa therm level before the start of the Iran war.
Injections of gas into Britain’s storage have increased since February 21 due to milder temperatures seen when demand fell. Storage levels fluctuate throughout the year and are determined by the market, not the government.
Mainland Europe has several weeks’ worth of gas reserves, but experts say energy systems are different and Great Britain tends to use storage more flexibly.
National Gas is not concerned with short-term gas storage levels in Great Britain’s salt caverns. proposed a number of policies To protect Britain’s future energy security in response to government scrutiny. They involve working with industry to maintain and improve flexible supply. Capacity including storage, LNG expansion and the introduction of floating storage units.
He said last month that systemic changes, such as declining North Sea production, increasing dependence on imports and changing demand patterns, were creating new challenges and risks. Jon Butterworth, chief executive of National Gas, described it as “a defining moment for the UK’s energy security”.
