UK to get more gas from a Russian firm as Centrica extends deals with Gazprom
The UK's dependency on gas from Russian firms just increased, after Centrica signed a deal with state energy giant Gazprom – as well as Norwegian rival Statoil – to ramp up the amount of gas it buys from the companies.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, said it had extended its contracts with Statoil and Gazprom Marketing & Trading, originally signed in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The latter, the UK-based subsidiary of Gazprom, will source gas from an international trading portfolio.
Statoil will now supply 7.3bn cubic metres per annum, taking the total to be delivered over the contract's 10 years to 73bn cubic metres, while Gazprom will supply 4.16bn cubic metres per annum, a total of 29.1bn cubic metres over the length of the contract.
Given various Europe's political relationship with Russia, this isn't ideal (although it's worth pointing out Gazprom isn't named on the EU's sanctions list) – but Centrica said the UK now needs to import more than half of the 70bn cubic metres of natural gas it gets through a year.
The long-term supply agreements with Statoil and GM&T will meet the gas needs of 9m British homes every year and take the total amount that Centrica has committed in securing gas and electricity, through a range of suppliers, to over £50 billion.