Tagged with Gas

The dreams peddled by the oil and gas industries turn out to be fantasies

no-frackingThe one thing Osborne loves to tell us, constantly, is that the future of energy production lies in fracking and that he will do everything in his power to maximise shale drilling in Britain, even to the extent of allowing drilling to be carried out on private land without permission.

However this oasis of future riches has received rather a knock from the latest information in the US. It has now been reported that the top 15 players in US shale drilling have written off no less than $35bn since the boom started, and that investors are beginning to pull out. It has also become clear from the big shale basins in the US that production rapidly peaks, but then equally rapidly falls away. Continue reading →

Energy system needs fundamental reform, not just Ofgem tinkering

light bulbOfgem got out of their pram yesterday to complain about Labour and Which? criticisms of their ‘fundamental reforms‘ to the energy market. They said:

For the Labour Party and Which? to dismiss Ofgem’s fundamental reforms is to misunderstand the barriers to competition that we have identified and are tackling.  In fact Ofgem’s reforms go further than Labour’s proposals for increasing liquidity, which they refer to as a pool. Labour’s proposals only relate to the short-term market, where the big six are already auctioning large volumes of power after pressure. Continue reading →

The case for public ownership

In Public HandsThe public’s demand for re-nationalisation is steadily growing, partly because the record of privatised companies has been so poor, partly because the excuse of globalisation is now seen not to betoken greater efficiency but rather funnelling increasing assets to the very rich and undermining job security for workers, and partly the big new outsourcing companies have so blatantly abandoned the national interest in pursuit of gross profiteering. Continue reading →

Government gets into bed with gas industry

Cameron and GasThere are seemingly no limits to how far this government will crawl into the pockets of the private sector to do them a favour to maximise their profits at taxpayers’ expense.

Greenpeace has just discovered via freedom of information (FOI) rules that a major state subsidy scheme for gas-fired power stations in the UK is being designed by an executive of a gas company — ESB, which owns 3 gas-fired power stations in this country. He has been seconded to work in DECC for 2 years. Continue reading →

Tell Sid… we want our energy back

Tell SidGovernment Ministers have tried to justify the undervalued sale of the Royal Mail as a return to popular capitalism.It has been nearly thirty years since the Government’s “Tell Sid” campaign helped launch the privatisation of British Gas. We will never know if Sid bought any shares but one thing is for sure, if he is a UK resident he will certainly be paying the price as we continue to experience inflation busting year on year rises in the cost of gas and electricity.

While allowing people to make a quick profit may well prove popular, any short term gains can quickly evaporate, as prices rise, investment falls and shareholders seek to maximise their profits.

I am appalled at the annual energy price rises, three of the Big Six have already announced price hikes of around 10%, with the other three expected to follow shortly. However, we cannot sell off vital public assets and then complain when private companies act like private companies. The popular capitalism of the 80s has turned into a nightmare for the vast majority of ordinary families. Continue reading →