10 April 2012
Britain produces about half its gas needs from the North Sea and Irish Sea. A further 20% comes from Norway with the same again from Qatar as liquefied natural gas. Only 2% comes from Russia with the rest from the Netherlands. OK, Moscow is potentially tricky, but Norway, Qatar and Holland are friends of Britain. So what's the "energy security" problem? Gas from British territories is likely to fall from 50% to 25% by 2020. Demand from Asia will be far greater, making Russia far more powerful in the market. Today's deal must be one of many before we can relax about our energy supply.
