Why does the UK not use its own oil and gas.

[MattA7]

Why does the UK insist on exporting it’s oil and gas to other nations and importing oil and gas from other nations. With the energy price crisis and Borris blaming Putin and the Invasion of Ukrain for the crisis wouldn’t the most logical thing be to use our own oil and gas reserves instead of exporting them. At least in short term anyway.

 

[Starmill]

The UK isn't capable of producing all that much oil and gas, and refining it so that its actually a useful product rather than a raw material hasn't been a very profitable business this past decade. In any case we do use quite a bit of domestically produced natural gas.

 

[ainsworth74]

To my understanding, so I'm open to correction, it's because its sold on the open market and the companies doing the extraction aren't state owned so cannot easily be directed to supply the UK at the price it costs to extract instead of seeking the highest rate of return wherever that may be. That being said I believe we do use a fair amount of the gas that's extracted from the North Sea, it's just that the price has been driven up by the market rate being so high.

 

[mikeg]

We do! We just don't produce enough of it, nor are we capable of and have been a net importer of both for about 20 years iirc.

 

[Richardr]

Don't forget that about half our so-called gas exports are to Ireland, where we have been a conduit between the mainland of Europe and Ireland.

 

[najaB]

Why does the UK insist on exporting it’s oil and gas to other nations and importing oil and gas from other nations. With the energy price crisis and Borris blaming Putin and the Invasion of Ukrain for the crisis wouldn’t the most logical thing be to use our own oil and gas reserves instead of exporting them. At least in short term anyway.

In addition to what others have said, not all oil is the same. Brent North Sea crude is one of the world standards for light sweet oil (low sulphur content) and gets a premium price, where sour oils from the likes of Venezuela and Saudi Arabia get a lower price. So it makes economic sense for us (meaning the oil companies) to export our oil and buy cheaper oil from elsewhere.

 

[Trainbike46]

In addition to what others have said, not all oil is the same. Brent North Sea crude is one of the world standards for light sweet oil (low sulphur content) and gets a premium price, where sour oils from the likes of Venezuela and Saudi Arabia get a lower price. So it makes economic sense for us (meaning the oil companies) to export our oil and buy cheaper oil from elsewhere.

A similar thing applies to gas - from various sources it comes at various caloric values, and they're not that easy to interchange