Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard calls for energy deal with USA
Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard, says oil and gas imports should form part of any future trade deal with the US, to diversify the risk to Britain's energy supplies.
Mr Pritchard asked energy minister Nadhim Zahawi to look at increasing the amount of fuel that Britain imports from the US during a debate in the House of Commons this week.
Mr Pritchard told the Commons that in 2016, the US became a net exporter of liquefied natural gas, and that last year the country became a net exporter of all oil products, both crude refined.
Mr Pritchard asked Mr Zahawi: "In order to diversify the UK’s energy risk, is it not time that the Government started to interact with the United States, perhaps as part of a trade deal, to import both gas and oil from the United States?"
Mr Zahawi, who is Under-Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said he had met the newly appointed US energy secretary a couple of weeks ago.
"We work very closely with the United States," he said. "This week we published our terms for our negotiation for a free trade agreement with that great country."
In 2017, the UK consumed 2,624 billion cubic feet of gas, with 44 per cent of that produced in the UK. A further 47 per cent came from European pipelines, of which 36 per cent came from Russia and 21 per cent from Norway. The remaining nine per cent was shipped into the UK in the form of liquid petroleum gas.
Britain has been a net importer of crude oil since 2005, and at present imports 3.25 million tons more than it exports.
Last year, Norway was the biggest source of UK oil imports, supplying 44 per cent of imported oil.
The US was in second place, providing 15 per cent – up from zero in 2016. Nigeria provided 15 per cent of Britain's oil imports and Algeria 12 per cent.
