Industry body Chemical Industries Association (CIA) took the government to task for its lack of a coherent energy policy and the disincentives to investment that are leading to totally uncompetitive energy prices and a growing reliance on imported gas.

“Why are we in the UK stuck with a complete lack of energy policy.” Asked Crotty.  “How irresponsible is that? The rest of the world is encouraging local oil and gas production, while we destroy ours through high North Sea taxes and disincentives, making us totally reliant on overseas supplies and losing billions in potential revenue,” CIA President Tom Crotty of INEOS which runs the Forties Pipeline system in the North Sea was cited by Crotty as an example of the decline.

“The Forties Pipeline System moves 40% of the UK’s oil from the North Sea through Grangemouth where it is processed for distribution throughout the UK.” He said: “Oil flows through the system have declined by a dramatic 40%, meaning that the country is becoming ever more reliant on imported oil and gas.

It puts UK consumers at the mercy of foreign producers and causes massive volatility in prices, pushing yet more people into fuel poverty.   To give you a feel for the impact of this, if you look at yesterday’s energy prices, UK gas was priced at $14.6/mmBtu while the US was at $3.1/mmBtu that’s a 5 times multiple.   Electricity was €111/MWh in the UK but only €20 in the US, a 5.5 times multiple.  On top of that, we have a carbon price at €79/t.”