Dutch Provider Sees Record Export to UK

A record volume (38 million cubic metres) of natural gas was transported on December 6 via the border point Oude Statenzijl into the GTS network, the Dutch providers announced. That is almost 50% more than the previous record volume registered in April 2008.

Oude Statenzijl is one of the Dutch-German border points connecting the two Dutch national network operators, Gasunie Deutschland and Gasunie Transport Services (GTS), both subsidiaries of Gasunie. Most of this gas makes its way to the UK through GTS’s Dutch network via the BBL pipeline between the Netherlands and England and routes through Belgium.

As Gasunie’s infrastructure has sufficient capacity and is well connected to international gas flows, Gasunie can make an important contribution towards the security of supply in the United Kingdom, the company said in a statement. Gas demand in England is currently high due to a period of especially cold weather.

Domestic supplies in Britain are slowly declining meaning that the country needs increasing imports of gas in order to meet its own energy requirements.

Annie Krist, chief executive of national network operator GTS, said: “We’re seeing foreign gas flows moving through the Dutch network more and more frequently. This proves that the Netherlands has become a genuine hub. We’re now reaping the benefit of the international connections that we’ve built up over the last few years in the Netherlands. We have access to supplies as well as the means to transport them.”