Tuesday, April 29, 2008

"Having the capacity does not mean the molecules are going to arrive."















You heard it here first. After telling us for the last three years that the Terminals and pipeline were going to supply up to 20% of the UK's gas requrements, now they're telling us that most of the gas is headed for Japan and South Korea.

Three years of pressuring planning authorities with "National Need" arguments, three years of bullying land owners, three years of ripping up the Welsh countryside and causing long-term damage to some of our most precious and ecologically important landscapes.

What a load of bollocks.

Of course, National Grid have been aware of the phenomenon known as "Spot LNG" for some time. After all, it's been happening at their Isle of Grain terminal since 2005 and points to the escalating failure of what European commentators refer to as "Anglo Capitalism". A neoliberal model which is gradually locking us into a growing dependency on gas supplies that are now being traded on a worldwide market, courtesy of LNG.

In light of this you've got to laugh at the statement from Centrica blaming "dysfuntional European markets sitting next to our highly competitive British one". If we're so competitive - how come the Japs and South Koreans are out-competing us?

The only way we're going to be able to compete with the far east is by offering a higher rate for the gas - and that inevitably means higher bills down the line for the consumer.