UK could reopen vast gas storage facility 

In 2017 the government refused to subsidise Centrica’s Yorkshire facility, and it was consequently mothballed.

But the government could now be prepared to contribute to re-installing a strategic gas reserve, the BBC reported. The talks form contingency measures for a “reasonable worst-case scenario” in the instance that Russia stops supplying gas to Europe, and Norwegian gas supplies would subsequently be redirected from the UK to the continent.

The UK is reliant on Norway for a third of gas supplies and receives about four percent from Russia. This contrasts with EU member states, where Russian gas accounts for about 40%.

Centrica’s Yorkshire site would require up to £2bn as a short-term facility for gas, before transitioning into hydrogen. The site can store between 10 to 12 days’ worth of the UK’s gas requirements.

There has been a glut of liquefied natural gas arriving in the UK in recent weeks as suppliers use the UK’s terminals as a hub for deliveries to Europe. Tankers have been turned away as there is nowhere to store it.

The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen gas prices skyrocket and led chancellor Rishi Sunak to a humiliating U-turn on imposing a “windfall tax” on oil and gas companies that have profited hugely from the crisis.

Sunak announced a package of support worth £15bn in total. Every household in the UK will receive an energy bill discount of £400 this October, and the poorest households will receive a payment of £650.

Government minister Chris Philp said the contingency plans were “a sensible precautionary measure given that the gas supply coming out of Russia and Ukraine is, for obvious reasons, so heavily disrupted and we do, of course, use quite a lot of gas to generate electricity".

He added: "A lot of ours comes from Norway and in the form of liquified natural gas, but of course disruption to the global gas market will have a knock-on effect on the UK."