‘White Monday’ fails to break gas demand record

Fears that yesterday’s worsening weather would result in a record-breaking gas glut proved unfounded… just. Demand for gas was 464.8 million cubic metres yesterday, against the record of 465.5 mcm […]

Fears that yesterday’s worsening weather would result in a record-breaking gas glut proved unfounded… just.

Demand for gas was 464.8 million cubic metres yesterday, against the record of 465.5 mcm from January 8 this year.

The National Grid yesterday issued a ‘gas balancing’ alert over a threat of possible shortages. But a risk analyst has said that the warning is a “short-term blip”.

Andrew Horstead at energy management specialist Utilyx said: “Yes it’s cold, and yes demand has gone up, but the gas industry has responded well to yesterday’s alert with more gas from storage and LNG entering the network, meaning that the UK’s gas supply is more than a match for demand.

Mr Horstead added: “Gas prices are down across the curve today, and we expect to continue to see them drop over Christmas and the New Year. We have extra LNG capacity and we’re currently under-utilising supply from the continent so we should be able to meet the UK’s energy requirements to keep warm for the rest of the winter.

“Couple this with the fact that we are entering a week where demand naturally drops by a quarter due to many UK businesses retreating for a festive break, and the industry is in a good position. The gas will come.”

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