Gas Crisis: Russia - Where's the contingency plan?

7.49.04pm GMT Wed 30th Nov 2005

John Hemming MP, who chairs the Independent Energy Scrutiny Panel, has written to Malcolm Wicks challenging the government to provide contingency plans in the event that Russia stops exporting gas to Ukraine.

"It may seem a long way away," he said, "but if Russia put a block on supplies to Ukraine on Jan 1st, as they are threatening to, this would hit Europe. Unless it was very warm at the time we would be likely to lose supplies of up to around 25 million cubic metres of gas a day. "

"We are already continually taking gas from storage. Yesterday 693 GWh was taken from storage which (on a rolling 7 day calculation) would lead to breaching the safety monitors by 1st February 2006. Luckily it looks like we are going to have a short warm spell. This will reduce gas demand."

"The Gas Generating companies have already acted to reduce demand by about 20 mcm/d by switching to a lower level at night. Even with that reduction over 60 mcm was taken out of storage on Tuesday."