UK gas supply
The UK's gas supply will not be disrupted.
While the UK does import some liquified natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf, we benefit
from strong and diverse energy supplies.
This includes our own North Sea production, pipelines with
Norway, interconnectors with continental Europe and three
LNG terminals.
Only about 1% of the UK's gas supply in 2025 came from Qatar. We
have no reason to expect it would be significantly different in
2026 or beyond.
UK energy security
The biggest threat to energy security for families and businesses
in the UK is continued reliance on unstable fossil fuel markets.
That is why we're taking back control with clean, homegrown power
to ensure our energy security, protect the British people and
bring down bills for good.
To support this mission, we're delivering the biggest ever
investment in homegrown clean power in British history.
That includes securing the cheapest sources of energy for our
country - from this year's record-breaking renewables auction,
which shows offshore wind is 40% cheaper to build and operate
than new gas power stations - to consenting enough wind and solar
to power the equivalent of 8.5 million homes.
We're also welcoming in a new golden era for nuclear with a
record investment in the biggest nuclear building programme in
half a century.
North Sea oil and gas
Increasing domestic oil and gas production would not help with
supply and prices.
Regardless of where it comes from, the price of oil and gas is
determined by international markets, not the UK. We are
price-takers, not price-makers.
Future exploration in the North Sea is too marginal to make a
difference to the overall supply in an international market. It
is a maturing basin and accounts for less than 0.7% of global oil
and gas production.
New licences to explore new fields would also take years to be
developed and wouldn't make any difference to the prices set by
international markets and paid by UK billpayers.
However, we are taking a pragmatic approach to ensure existing
North Sea production continues to play an important and valuable
role in our energy system. This includes the introduction of
Transitional Energy Certificates to ensure existing fields remain
economically viable for their whole lifespan as we transition to
our clean energy future.
Our plans are laid out in the North Sea Future
Plan.
Fuel prices
International prices are changing and we are monitoring them.
However, it is too soon to say how they will translate to local
prices at the pump. Changes in crude oil price tend to feed
through gradually over the course of a number of weeks. Fuels
Industry UK reports that fuels production and imports are
continuing across the UK as usual. As motorist organisations the
AA and RAC have advised, “there is no need for drivers to break
their refuelling routine.”
Energy bills
The energy price cap will provide protection for households until
the start of July, regardless of developments in the Middle
East.
This is the maximum rate you can be charged by your energy
company for default tariffs – and as a result of government
action in the Budget, the price cap will fall by 7% or £117
annually for the period covering April to June. So, households will see their
energy bills go down in April.
However, the biggest driver of energy prices for homes and
businesses is the cost of wholesale gas set by international
markets. If this remains high, it could have an impact on bills
in the future. This means that moving to clean, secure, homegrown
power is the best way to protect bills for good.
Government help for bills
We announced in the Autumn Budget that we would cut the cost of
living, including by taking an average of £150 of costs off
energy bills from April. This will help millions of
families with their energy bills.
This change comes on top of the expansion of the Warm Home
Discount - a £150 discount off electricity bills for eligible
households - part of a wider package of cost of
living measures.
The government is also helping people to lower their energy bills
by upgrading their homes with insulation and clean energy
products. The £15 billion Warm Homes Plan will help lift up to
one million families out of fuel poverty.
There is further advice for households wanting to take action
themselves to cut costs through the government's Clean Energy Campaign.
