U.K. Gas Imports Grow as Fields Decline
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said natural gas production in the United Kingdom has declined sharply, and pipeline connections with Europe and seaborne deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) now provide more than half of the nation’s supply.
EIA said U.K. gas output fell from 350 bcf (9.9 x 109 m3) per month in 2000 to less than 200 Bcf (54.6 x 109 m3) per month in 2011. Most U.K. gas production is from declining fields in the North Sea.
Imports via pipeline Norway have jumped from 36 Bcf (1.0 x 109 m3) in 2001 to 878 Bcf (2.5 x 1010 m3) in 2010. Most of the growth since October 2006 has been through the Kangeled Pipeline, which extends 725 mi. (1166 km) from the Nyhamna terminal in Norway via the Sleipner Riser platform in the North Sea to the Easington Gas Terminal in the U.K.
The U.K.’s LNG imports, which began in 2005, at times have provided up to 4 Bcfd (113 x 106 m3/day) of total supply, or 20% of the nation’s demand. Last year LNG imports exceeded 900 Bcfd (2.5 x 1010 m3/day), with Qatar accounting for over 80% of the total, but this year have fallen to 1.4 Bcfd (40 x 106 m3/day).
For more information: www.eia.gov
