Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the merits of seasonal gas storage facilities in obtaining greater price stability for energy-intensive users of gas.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
A report published in 2013 by Redpoint, commissioned by DECC, looked at the merits of various interventions in the gas market, including new gas storage facilities. This report can be found at:
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to his previous question 1604 which notes that the UK continues to enjoy highly diverse and flexible gas supplies.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the cost and benefits to the consumer of gas storage provided by the Rough facility.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Centrica Storage Ltd’s decision to close the Rough gas storage facility is a commercial decision based on the age of the asset and the costs of repair. As such, we do not have the information to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the costs and benefits of maintaining the gas storage facility at Rough.
However, we have recently undertaken a full strategic assessment of our long-term gas security, including scenarios without Rough. We will publish this in due course. The UK continues to be benefit from a range of flexible sources of natural gas, including: production from the North Sea; six international gas pipelines with Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands; three Liquefied Natural Gas terminals that can bring gas from anywhere in the world; and a number of modern, responsive gas storage facilities.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the levels of gas imports into the UK were by country of origin in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The table below illustrates the latest published data for the last 12 months (May 2016 to April 2017) outlining the origin of gas imports into the UK rounded to the nearest 100.
| GWh |
Country | Gas imports May 2016 - April 2017 |
Norway | 371,900 |
Qatar | 93,400 |
Netherlands | 29,500 |
Belgium | 28,300 |
Algeria | 5,500 |
Others | 2,900 |
Total | 531,500 |
The above table includes imports via pipeline and shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
Imports of natural gas by origin are published monthly in Energy Trends Table 4.4 on the BEIS section of the GOVUK website at this address: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/622757/ET_4.4.xls
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish correspondence and records of telephone conversations between Centrica and his Department on the viability of the Rough gas storage facility.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Officials and I have regular discussions with industry on a range of topics, which in many cases are commercially confidential. As the Hon. Member is aware, Centrica Storage Ltd announced on 20 June 2017 that it intends to close the Rough gas storage facility following a programme of testing the injection wells and an assessment of the future commercial viability of the asset.