UK at mercy of global gas market as giant storage site shuts

London

ALREADY buffeted by political chaos at home and abroad, the UK gas market must now operate without its biggest stabilising force: the giant Rough gas storage facility under the North Sea.

The planned permanent shutdown of the Centrica plc site, able to meet 10 per cent of peak demand in winter, means Britain is becoming even more reliant on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or pipeline fuel from Russia and Norway. That sets up the possibility that traders would have to outbid Japan, the world's biggest LNG buyer, and others to keep millions of homes warm.

Political uncertainty is making the supply game even riskier, with rules for international gas pipelines clouded in mystery as the UK negotiates an exit from the European Union. And the diplomatic crisis this month involving Qa…