Is Great Britain running out of fuel due to Iran war? Two days of gas stored as conflict escalates

As the tensions in West Asia continue to escalate, Great Britain is reportedly having just two days of fossil gas stored as it faces a decline in energy reserves. The depletion is happening because more tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) are being diverted from their course to Europe towards Asia because of the Iran war.

According to figures from National Gas, Great Britain had 6,999 gigawatt hours (GWh) of fossil gas stored on Saturday. It is pertinent to note that National Gas owns and operates the national gas transmission system. In comparison to this, Great Britain had 9,105 GWh a year earlier.

While the Maximum capacity is 12 days of gas, and current storage levels equate to under two days of reserves, leading to concerns that Great Britain could run out of gas if the crisis in the Middle East escalates further. However, National Gas assured that even when storage stocks are low, Great Britain continues to receive large volumes of gas from other sources.

More from World

“Britain’s gas storage levels are broadly in line with what we would expect at this point in the year and are comparable to this time last year. It’s important to remember that storage makes up only a small part of Britain’s diverse gas supply mix. Most of our gas comes from the UK continental shelf and Norway, complemented by LNG, interconnectors with continental Europe, and storage," a National Gas spokesperson told The Guardian.

“Great Britain benefits from a wide range of supply sources that the market draws on every day. Together, these provide the flexibility needed to balance supply and demand reliably throughout the year," he added.

'Nothing to panic'

Soon after the report started to swirl, a spokesperson from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “It is categorically untrue that the UK only has access to two days of gas supply. We have a diverse energy mix and are confident in our security of supply.

“Gas will continue to play a key role in our diverse and resilient energy system as we transition to more secure, clean homegrown energy. We are working with the industry to ensure the gas system is fit for the future, including maintaining security of supply in the rarest scenarios," he added.

Since the start of the war in West Asia, at least two tankers have been redirected in the middle of the Atlantic from Europe to Asia since Friday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. This comes after three similar diversions last week. Gas prices have soared since the US and Israel began intense airstrikes on Iran over a week ago.

Iran in effect closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global seaborne gas shipments pass. Qatar halted production at the world’s biggest LNG plant last week after a drone attack. LNG prices in Asia, which imports much of Qatar’s gas exports, soared last week. UK month-ahead gas prices rose last week to 137p a therm, up from 78.5p a therm before the Iran war began.