UK could spend £6.3million per day on Russian gas in 2022

The UK could be set to spend billions of pounds on Russian gas imports this year, potentially helping to fund its war in Ukraine.

UK imports of Russian LNG in 2021 totalled almost 34TWh (Terawatt-hours), having risen from around zero in 2017.

This equates to about 6-7% of total imports, and about 4% of UK gas demand. [1] At today's wholesale gas price of c.200p/therm (about £68/MWh), the UK would spend £2.3billion on Russian gas in a year, equivalent to £6.3million per day, if it continues to import that amount of gas from Russia.

Commenting, Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, Head of Analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “Although not at the same level of some other European countries, the UK has been spending billions of pounds on Russian gas that could now be being used to fund Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“This is another reason why the UK needs to break its dependency on gas and insulating our homes, deploying electric heat pumps and shifting from gas power stations to renewables is the way to do it.”

British Gas owner Centrica is in talks to exit its supply deals with Russian gas firm Gazprom “as a matter of urgency.”

Wholesale gas price rises are driving the vast majority of energy bill hikes, with gas directly adding at least £500 to the average bill under April's new price cap, and a further £68 due to supplier collapses.

If UK homes were upgraded using insulation and other heating efficiency measures, such that the average EPC rating moved from band D to the Government's target of band C, each household would use on average 20% less gas, overall UK gas demand would fall by 8%, and imports could be reduced by 15%. [3]

1. 2021 Q4 data is provisional. UK gas demand and imports in 2022 may differ from 2021 which was affected by the pandemic.