UK Minister: “Gas Matters Enormously”

“We are good at gas and we like gas”

That was the welcoming message conveyed by the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to the audience at the opening of today’s GASTECH event held at London’s ExCel Centre.

Ed Davey stated that the gas was a “vital industry of strategic importance,' and re-enforced the UK’s position as a corridor of the movement of natural gas to Europe.

Noting that 20% of the UK’s electricity capacity was scheduled to close over the next twenty years, Davey said that gas played an important role in fulfilling future energy supply.

Presenting his views as a realistic and pragmatic approach to climate change, Davey said that investment in gas, as the “cleanest and flexible hydrocarbon,” was consistent with the government’ push for a low carbon economy and with climate change policies.

The comments came as wind power, renewables and nuclear companies threatened to withdrawn millions of pounds of future investments in Britain, critising the coalition on backtracking on it commitment to be the “greenest government.”

In addressing the controversial topic of unconventional gas development, Davey denied that he was opposed to development of the sector, stating that he was all in favour of new resources that provided for energy security, as well as attractive pricing to consumers.

The Energy Secretary “made no apology for being a little bit more patient” than observers who viewed shale gas as a “silver bullet.”

“I hope it will prove to be possible for me to give a green light to shale gas,” Davey said, cautioning that regulatory oversight and the concerns of local communities needed to be properly considered.