UK's gas storage levels are worryingly low: Centrica

LONDON: UK’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low”, with less than a week of gas demand in store following a cold snap, Centrica, operator of the country’s largest gas storage site, said on Friday.

UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.

“As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full. This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store,” Centrica said in a statement.

Centrica’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity. Rough stopped storing gas in 2017 but was reopened in 2022 at lower capacity amid the global energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Centrica said it could invest 2 billion pounds ($2.46 billion) to upgrade the site to maximum capacity but is seeking support from the government through a price cap and floor mechanism to make this viable.

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“If Rough had been operating at full capacity in recent years, it would have saved UK households 100 pounds from both their gas and their electricity bills each winter,” Centrica Chief Executive Chris O’Shea said in the statement.

Unlike Europe, Britain does not have a mandatory gas storage target which Europe set following price spikes and supply fears during the energy crisis.

“We are an outlier from the rest of Europe when it comes to the role of storage in our energy system and we are now seeing the implications of that,” O’Shea said.

($1 = 0.8137 pounds)