UK Will Import 2/3 Of Its Natural Gas By 2012 - Reuters

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LONDON - "Britain will need to import two-thirds of its gas by around 2012 as local North Sea gas production will soon start to decline steeply, national pipeline operator Transco has said.

'Our latest analysis suggests that the UK's import dependency will be around 50 percent by the end of the decade and approximately 67 percent by 2012/2013,' said Transco in its annual outlook for the next 10 years.

The forecasts for dependency are greater than last year because producers are expecting North Sea fields to empty more quickly than they had previously thought, a Transco spokesman said last week.

At the end of 2002, Transco had expected imports to account for 39 percent of the UK's gas needs by the end of the decade. 'Last year we were at the lower end of the range. Producers were more bullish about the prospects for the (UK) continental shelf,' he said."

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http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/23132/story.htm