Bacton workers raced at full speed to ship record amounts of gas to Europe, helping the continent make up for lost Russian imports. Jamie Lorriman
Thousands of miles from the front lines in Ukraine, a small crew of workers in yellow jackets crowd around a gas pipeline on the Norfolk coast.
Under gray April skies, they help operate a crane to install new filters inside a giant steel pipe , helping to block dust and contaminants.
“Filters remove all the nasty things,” says Simon Burroughs, manager of the Beckton gas terminal where the pipes are laid.
But as workers gear up for next summer, they suddenly find themselves in a new role: as a key line of defense in Vladimir Putin's energy war. point for the only two natural gas pipelines connecting the UK to the continent. They are working at full capacity, sending record volumes of gas to Europe, helping the continent offset the loss of Russian imports.
The pipeline network has helped counter Putin's attempts to stifle energy supplies and weaken Western support for Ukraine. It is now at the center of a major shift in energy flows that is strengthening the US and giving the UK a new role as a transit country.
2204 bacton gas pipeline
More gas has been delivered in the past few weeks New analysis shows that gas flows to Europe are routed via pipelines from the UK to Europe, not from Russia to Europe.
As gas flows to Europe begin to flow from west to east , rather than the other way around, weakens the European economy.
At Bacton we are proud of our work.
“The work we do for the UK and Europe has not been in vain for us,” says Mr. Burroughs.
He remembers how, last year, the amount of gas passing through the UK increased after Russia invaded Ukraine and gradually cut off gas supplies to Europe.
Traders began buying up gas supplies from all over the world, including from the US and Peru, instead in a race to fill up gas reserves before the winter and meet urgent needs. They described a «manic» period as they struggled to close deals amid soaring prices and volatility and huge cash collateral requirements as competition for supplies intensified.
“A typical working day last year was like, ‘Oh my God! where are the prices now,” says one industry source.
Over the past few weeks through pipelines from the UK to Europe than was sent by pipeline from Russia to Europe. Photo: Jamie Lorriman
The gas in these batches is in liquid form, chilled to -162°C for transport, and there aren't enough terminals in Europe to process it back into gas.
Instead, traders have booked processing capacity at terminals in Wales and Kent that have been built over the past few decades as part of efforts to diversify gas supplies to the UK.
They then ferried the gas through the UK and then to Europe via pipelines at Bacton to the Netherlands and Belgium, with higher prices on the Continent making the trade profitable.
This means that Britain has actually become a transit country. for supplies to Europe, with gas also supplied to Europe from the North Sea.
The huge demand has created problems for the pipeline network, including the accumulation of debris inside the pipes, which at times slowed or even stopped flows.
In July, operators requested an emergency permit to increase the pressure on the connecting pipeline to the Netherlands so that it could export more than usual.
On the eve of winter, about 20.5 trillion cubic meters were transported to Europe. last summer to bring gas to Europe,” says John Butterworth, chief executive of National Gas Transmission, which owns the British gas transmission network.
Backton.
“We kept the UK safe by ferrying every bit of gas in excess of what we needed through Buckton to get the European storage to where it should be.”
It was a lucrative and rewarding deal. for pipeline owners.
Gasunie, the Dutch state majority owner of infrastructure, including the 146-mile BBL pipeline between Bacton and the Netherlands, said its revenues rose 62% to 2.2 billion euros (1.9 billion pounds sterling) in 2022
Fluxys, the majority owner of a 146-mile connecting pipeline to Belgium, reported a 60% increase in revenue to €912 million in 2022.
National Gas Transmission, which was part of the National Grid until its sale to the Macquarie consortium last year, saw its underlying operating income rise 15% to £381m in the six months to end September 2022.
The role of the UK as a transit country for gas to Europe is likely to continue: according to data published by the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, it has been sending more than 650 million cubic meters of gas per week to the continent since early April. reservoir.
2204 gas supply demand uk
This is more than about 500 million cubic meters. m a week, delivered by pipeline from Russia — a sharp change in flows — although Russia also sent supplies to Europe.
Forecasts by ICIS market experts for the period up to March 2025 show high export volumes through the two pipelines.
And this despite the fact that Europe is building more of its own terminals for processing liquefied gas shipments, including off the coast of Germany.
The US has said it can export 9 to 10 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through UK gas terminals during this year, more than double pre-war levels.
This will «benefit from leading import infrastructure of the UK» and be «good for both UK and European partners», according to statement no. 10 at the time.
“Structurally, the UK is moving from a seasonal import-exporter to a transit country for global LNG to the northwest European market,” says Tom Marczek-Manser, head of gas analytics at ICIS.
The UK typically exports gas to Europe in the summer and imports gas in the winter, with the continent's gas reserves effectively serving as additional storage for the UK, which has little of it.
Pipelines change the direction of pipes depending on the market, and traders send gas to the market with the highest price.
However, the UK has been importing very little back via pipeline this winter as higher prices in Europe have stifled this trade.
Instead, most of the UK's winter gas came from the North Sea, Norway and LNG.
Many experts are concerned that the UK is becoming too dependent on external supplies and needs additional gas storage capacity.
2204 UK's dependence on LNG
“In the absence of proper gas storage facilities in the UK and competing demand for gas in the EU, we cannot rely on cross-system supplies in the winter and are therefore dependent on LNG supplies,” says Clive Moffatt, energy expert at Moffatt Associates.
He calls for more effective measures to prevent blackouts and shutdowns in the event of a shortage of gas.
This winter was avoided on both sides of the English Channel, despite widespread fears that it will happen, albeit with rising prices have hurt the economy.
According to National Gas data released this week, they behaved exactly as we expected,” said Bridget Hartley, head of operational deliveries at National Gas Transmission.
«I think that's pretty much reassuring.»
Growing role for the UK The supply of gas to Europe has shown that «together you're stronger when you're more integrated and working together,» she adds.
«In circumstances where we need gas back, I think if we supply a lot of gas to Europe, we'll be in a better position to get it back.»< /p>
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