An Option on Someone Else's Gas

Ofgem has approved a five-year agreement that stops Interconnector UK cutting its GB import capability this month, and opened a consultation on recovering £147.2m from gas consumers. The cost is small and the decision is probably right. The justification is thin: the negative supply margin behind it rests on a demand assumption 74 mcm/day below the statutory one, the capability being bought is interruptible at the outset, and the option only pays when the people at the other end have gas to spare.