Comment on Burnham to scrap Starmer’s digital ID scheme in ‘reset of priorities’
echodot@feddit.uk 1 week agoI really don’t want this to come off as rude but you do not know what you’re talking about.
When they drill for oil and natural gas in the North sea it doesn’t go into some special “only for the UK” reserve, it’s private companies doing the drilling so they will sell on the global market. So more drilling of natural gas in the North sea will do diddly squat for the prices in the UK.
BigTwerp@feddit.uk 1 week ago
I fully understand that there is no “UK reserve” it’s basically my job to understand this. I have to simplify things for a shorter post, though.
Here’s a lesson for anyone interested: there are only a few areas in the world that produce natural gas that can be used in our gas supply system with domestic refineries and distribution. There are sources further afield but without connection to a pipeline they are cost prohibitive. A commodity is only as valuable as your ability to deliver it.
Areas of natural gas readily accessible in Europe are the north sea, Baltic states and Russia. So whilst it is a “global market” in theory, the reality is price of natural gas for UK is effectively dominated by European continental availability.
Europe as a whole doesn’t have enough gas without buying it from Russia, which is currently not sensible because Russia is using that money to fund a war against Europe. That is why the price is high.
If Europe, including UK are able to release more natural gas it will reduce the overall cost of gas a little bit (maybe a lot depending on other countries contribution and effectiveness of reducing gas usage) and also reduce the amount of money that goes to Russia.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 week ago
If it’s your job then you know the gas supplies aren’t limited because we aren’t extracting enough gas. The limited because they’ve been sold to other markets hence my original comment of more gas extraction will not necessarily equal more gas for the UK and therefore lower prices.
Additionally it would take 5 to 6 years minimum to build out a drilling operation so it’s hardly a solution for today or even 2029. Wouldn’t the more sensible option be to build out more renewables such as solar which can be stood up in a lot less time than half a decade?
BigTwerp@feddit.uk 1 week ago
God forbid that a government would actually plan for the future.