Oct 26 2005
Connecting the UK up to a wider source of gas supplies will change the face of the UK energy market over the coming years, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks will tell UK and Norwegian oil and gas industries today.
Speaking during the first visit to the UK by Odd Roger Enoksen, the new Norwegian Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Mr Wicks will say:
"The UK is in transition from energy island to net importer and our partnership with Norway is a mutually beneficial component of this. The Treaty we signed earlier this year means that the first part of the new Langeled pipeline will be feeding Norwegian gas into the UK network for next winter.
"Another new pipeline from the Netherlands and an upgrade to the existing interconnector with Belgium will also bring new bulk supplies into the UK market by next winter. Beyond that, two major new liquefied natural gas terminals in Pembrokeshire will bring in new supplies from further afield and new gas storage facilities over the coming years will help industry manage supply and demand.
"All of this is in addition to improvements already onstream before this coming winter - a liquefied natural gas terminal up and running in the Thames estuary, improvements to storage capacity at Rough and Humbly Grove and an initial upgrade to the interconnector with Belgium due to be on stream within weeks.
"This is a picture of a dynamic UK energy sector responding to the new UK energy scenario, working in collaboration with strategic partners in Norway and elsewhere. New pipelines, terminals and storage facilities mean greater security of supply and will help bear down on prices for industrial and domestic consumers."
Securing more gas from Norway to the UK will be one of the big consumer benefits of the UK's partnership with the Norwegian oil and gas sector. The Langeled pipeline is due to deliver gas to the UK by 2006 and could meet up to 16 per cent of peak UK demand. It is one of a number of developments and facilities that will see the UK's gas supply capability rise by 28% by 2006/7.
http://www.gnn.gov.uk