Gas Market -Reversal of Interconnector - causes some concern

1.14.57pm GMT Fri 5th Jan 2007

John Hemming MP, Chairman of the Independent Energy Scrutiny Panel, has written to Ofgem expressing concern about the reversal of the interconnector flow to the continent.

"It is unusually warm in the UK," he said, "but we have been taking gas out of the Medium Range Storage recently which really should not be the case. Obviously the flow can switch back to the UK, but we are now running Rough and Langaled at the peak capacity for Easington's hub. This means that the only real flexibility is the Medium Range Storage. It causes some concern that we are effectively exporting our gas from Medium Range Storage to the continent. As usual the key issue is the weather. However, we do not have the flexibility that ideally we should."