UK Gas Demand Falls in 2017
UK indigenous gas production remained stable in 2017, but the pattern of imports changed, according to provisional data released March 29 by the government’s department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis), which also cite recent LNG trade from Russia.
UK 2017 demand declined by 2.6% to 81.4bn m3 (875.2 TWh), making it the largest of a relatively few EU states where less gas was consumed last year. UK supply was 2.5% lower at 81.5bn m3.
Production was up 0.3% year on year at 43.25bn m3 (465 TWh). That included some gas from the Rough facility, which is currently drawing down its last reserves in preparation for closure.
Net gas imports fell by 4.8%. That split out into gross imports, down 1.8% to 48.8bn m3, which included a 34.5% decline in LNG imports to 7.45bn m3. Most of the UK's LNG imports come from Qatar.
Overall gross UK gas exports were up by 9% to 11.8bn m3 mainly to Belgium; some of these 'exports' to the near-continent are of Norwegian origin that transited the UK onshore grid. (Norway also pipes gas directly subsea to Germany, Belgium and France.
Of gross imports, last year's fall in UK LNG imports was much sharper than the 20% fall between 2015 and 2016 and, said Beis, which was probably due to strong demand from Asia. Offsetting that was a combined 8.2% rise in pipeline imports from Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Norwegian pipeline imports remained the dominant import source for the UK, supplying 36.6bn m3, so three-quarters of total gas imports, and up 13% year on year in 2017. Norway is not an EU member state but is part of the EU's single market.
Gas trade with Belgium has increased significantly with imports up 91% to 2.7bn m3 and a 31% rise in UK exports to Belgium to 8.2bn m3. Netherlands gas trade sharply decreased, with imports down 56% to 1.9bn m3, while exports were down 31% to 1.2bn m3. Both countries are in the EU, as is the Republic of Ireland to which UK exports in 2017 declined by 10% to 1.8bn m3. UK exports to the Isle of Man (outside the EU) fell by 3% to 0.12bn m3.
BEIS statistics do not include estimates of how much gas arriving by pipe from the continent originated in Russia but unofficial estimates put Russian physical deliveries at about 1% of UK supply in 2017, so not even 1bn m3.
December 2017 did see the arrival of the UK’s first LNG cargo from Russia (Yamal LNG) but it was re-exported. The Beis stats say that a second Yamal LNG cargo arrived in January 2018 – this being the first from Russia to be regasified into the UK's supply.
In its analysis of 4Q2017, BEIS says that the closure of the Forties pipeline system for much of December saw a fall in UK associated gas production, spurring a year on year increase of one-fifth in imports that month. January 2018 imports were below December 2017 levels.