Does our gas come from space? Or Russia? And should you care?
If you've seen the news lately, you are likely aware of the ongoing energy crisis that started due to the post-pandemic surge in demand but was exacerbated by the recent events in Eastern Europe.
So like many by now, you are probably asking yourselves where the UK gets its gas from?
How much gas is imported from Russia to the UK? And exactly why does it matter so much when they are by no means responsible for the majority of natural gas imports.
In this guide, we break down all of the most recent official statistics and explain how this may impact the UK's energy security going forward.
Where Does the UK Get its Gas From?
You may be surprised to learn that the UK currently sources around 50% of its natural gas from its own territory, with the North Sea accounting for an estimated 50%.
The remaining 50% of UK gas supplies are imported from various different countries around the world, including Norway, the United States and Russia.
In the infographic below we provide a complete breakdown of the latest official figures on UK gas and oil imports.
If the image is used, please attribute it by linking to: heatable.co.uk
At present, official figures indicate that Norway accounts for the majority of the UK gas imports at around 1,440,000 metric tons, which makes it responsible for one-third of all imports.
The United States accounted for the second highest importing around 93,000 metric tons of gas.
Meanwhile, Denmark and Belgium each imported around 45,000 metric tons.
Interestingly, Russia only accounted for 3% of UK gas imports at just 9,000 metric tons, while France imported just 8,000 metric tons.
What about UK Oil Imports?
In a similar pattern to natural gas, the majority of oil imported to the UK comes from Norway, which supplies us with roughly 11.7 million metric tons of crude oil annually.
The second largest supplier of crude oil to the UK is the US, which actually provided more oil than Norway back in 2019.
We also import around 3% of oil from Saudi Arabia, which may also surprise people.
Why doesn't the UK just drill more gas and oil from the North Sea?
The major reason that the UK doesn't increase its domestic supply of gas and oil is due to prioritising the UK's energy security.
For instance, some estimations, although disputed by others indicate that the North Sea's gas reserves will be depleted by around the year 2030.
For illustration, the country as a whole currently uses around 578,000,000 barrels of oil per year, while the North Sea has proven oil reserves of 2,754,685,000 barrels.
That means that if we relied only on North Sea reserves, they would run dry in just 5 years!
For this reason, the UK government still sources a combination of gas and oil from other countries.
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How Much Gas Does the UK Use Every Year?
Every year, the UK has used an average of 78 billion cubic feet of gas per year since 2011.
This is a decrease in the average amount of gas consumed from 2001–2010, which was around 96 billion cubic feet each year.
What Does the UK use All of this Gas for?
Like most other countries in the world, the UK relies on the combustion of natural gas and oil to extract its energy that can be used for "work".
For example, as of 2021, gas was responsible for around half of all the electricity generated in the UK.
In addition, 87% of UK households use natural gas to heat their homes, typically with a gas boiler that is the current heat source in an estimated 22 million homes.
Of course, there are major concerns about the burning of fossil fuels like natural gas, due to it being a leading cause of carbon emissions and climate change.
That is exactly why the UK, along with the world's largest economies have agreed to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Why Have Gas Prices Increased if we get so little Gas from Russia?
After discovering that the UK gets a tiny proportion of its natural gas and oil from Russia, you may be asking yourself how it's had such a big impact on gas prices in the UK.
The answer to this is the fact that gas and oil are traded and exported around the world via the global commodities market.
So, essentially it doesn't really matter which countries are specifically being impacted by the cutting off of Russian gas since a reduced supply impacts the global price regardless.
And as you may be aware - when there's less supply of something in demand, the prices increase.
For illustration, the United States of America imports zero Russian gas or oil, yet they have seen the exact same increase in gas and oil prices.
Why?
Well, if Europe buys less Russian oil, it will naturally have to replace it with imports from another country — for instance, the Saudi Arabia-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
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That increase in demand for OPEC gas and oil will result in a price surge.
The United States also buys millions of tons of OPEC gas and oil and so has seen a huge price increase as a result of Europe's adapting gas and oil imports.
