Natural gas prices are likely to remain high for the next two years, with very few options to boost supplies quickly, according to the chief executive of Britain’s biggest energy supplier.
The U.K. market is exposed to global supply and demand forces, and having more domestic supply wouldn’t have brought prices down significantly, said Chris O’Shea, CEO of Centrica Plc, owner of British Gas. Wholesale prices tripled last year, and millions of British consumers now face a more than 50% increase to energy bills from April.
“There’s no reason to think that energy prices will come down any time soon,” he told BBC radio on Wednesday. “The market suggests that high gas prices will be here for the next 18 months to 2 years.”
Britain has become more dependent on gas imports from places like Norway, Europe and as far afield as the U.S. and Qatar. Domestic production has been in decline for years and in 2017, Centrica opted to shut its aging Rough site, the U.K.’s gas storage biggest storage facility -- a decision that has been questioned in the current crisis and a criticism O’Shea rejects.
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