Gas Prices To Leap By 60% In The Short Term
If the forecast of a sixty percent hike in gas prices are confirmed later in the year we will see the average gas bill in the UK break the £1,000 a year barrier. Closely connected to the oil price it seems that gas providers across the UK will soon start to introduce more price increases on mass, prompting calls that they are holding the consumer to ransom. So why has the UK energy supply situation crumbled so dramatically over the last couple of years?
Over the last few years we have seen a number of major UK energy suppliers taken over by cash rich overseas competitors. This together with the ongoing reduction in North Sea oil and gas production has seen the UK look overseas for more and more of the nation's gas supplies. We have seen problems in supply lines through Europe and Russia over the last couple of years, but the forecast price hike seems to be down to pure supply and demand issues.
As well as consumers, UK businesses are struggling to cope with massive rises in energy prices and the strain is starting to show in both areas. The problem is that with falling domestic supply from the North Sea, the UK economy is very much in the hands of overseas groups who are charging as much as they can to supply countries such as the UK.
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