By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Sept. 28 -- The UK government reports production of crude oil and natural gas liquids fell by 6.6% in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year, largely due to the decline in production from established fields.
Refinery throughput was down 17% due to refinery shutdowns and closures as part of the process towards producing Ultra Low Sulfur Petrol (ULSP). The lower refinery output led to reduced exports and increased imports of oil products in the second quarter, but the UK remained a net exporter of oil and oil products. While 18.7% lower than in the same quarter a year ago, exports were 10 million tonnes.
Overall primary demand for oil products was virtually unchanged on a year earlier, down only 0.1%. Motor spirit deliveries fell by 3.9%, deliveries of diesel road fuel were 4.2% higher, while deliveries of aviation turbine fuel increased by 8.9%.
Total indigenous UK production of natural gas in the second quarter was slightly lower than in the same period last year, down 0.5%. Gas imports and exports in the second quarter were both lower than in the same period last year, mainly due to lower quantities of gas flowing through the interconnector pipeline with Belgium.
Demand for gas was 0.3% higher although gas use for electricity generation was 2% higher. Although four new gas-fired power stations came on stream in the last year, higher gas prices led to some stations generating for fewer hours than planned because coal-fired stations were able to offer more advantageous contracts.
Industrial energy prices were affected in the quarter by the Apr. 1 introduction of the UK Climate Change Levy (CCL), which has added 8% to the price for oil and 7% to the price for gas. However, UK government data show that average industrial gas prices rose in the second quarter, compared to the same period a year ago, by 51% in real terms because of higher world prices.
The data, which are seasonally adjusted for temperature differences and expressed in percentage terms, also show that in mid-September UK consumers were paying an average 3.6% less than a year ago for unleaded gasoline.
