U.K. Natural Gas Prices Soar as Freezing Weather Increases Use of Heating

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Natural-gas prices in Britain jumped 75 percent as freezing temperatures increased consumption in the European Union's biggest market.

Average temperatures in London today will be about minus 1 degree Celsius (30 degrees Fahrenheit), below the seasonal norm of 4 degrees, according to Bloomberg's weather data.

Gas for delivery today at the National Balancing Point rose for the first day in four, gaining 31 pence, or 75 percent, to 71 pence a therm at about 11:15 a.m. today in London, according to broker Spectron Group Plc. The price equals about $12.30 per million British thermal units. A therm is 100,000 British thermal units.

Gas prices in Britain have risen since the country began importing more of the fuel than it produces last year. Consumers in the U.K. now rely more on imports and stored gas because of declining supply at home. About 40 percent of power generation in England and Wales is gas-fired.

Bloomberg

The one that'll start in western Siberia and end somewhere around Dublin.

They had lots of it just then from the North Sea.

Natural gas was the path of least resistence in the 1990's.

What is positive about the British gas electrical output is that most of the new plants are combined cycle plants. This at least raises the efficiency of this very dirty fuel.

That's still going to be one hell of a long pipeline . . .