UK became net oil importer in Q3 2005: official data

London (Platts)--5Jan2006

The UK became a net importer of crude and refined products in the third
quarter of 2005 as extensive field maintenance exaggerated the ongoing decline
in North Sea production, the government's Department of Trade and Industry
said Thursday.
     Oil production during the quarter totaled 19.26-mil mt (around 1.57-mil
b/d), down 12.8% from the same period of 2004, failing to keep pace with
primary demand, which rose by 2.2% to 20.75-mil mt (1.69-mil b/d), the DTI
said in its quarterly review of energy statistics.
     The year-on-year decline in output grew from just over 10% in the second
quarter of last year, due in part to "a large amount of planned maintenance
work on North Sea oil platforms that coincided with the shutdown of the large
Schiehallion field because of a fire," the DTI said.
     UK output has been falling steadily in recent years from a peak around
the start of this decade.
     On the demand side, the year-on-year increase was largely due to rising
consumption of middle distillates. Aviation turbine fuel consumption rose
15.6% to 3.92-mil mt, while road diesel use increased by 6.9% to 4.9-mil mt.
This took diesel use above gasoline consumption, which fell by 6% to 4.67-mil
mt, the DTI figures showed.
     Diesel-engine vehicles have been increasingly popular in the UK, as well
as several other European countries, in recent years, leading to a marked
shift in demand patterns. In 1995, the country consumed almost twice as much
gasoline as diesel, according to data from the International Energy Agency.
     Natural gas production was also affected by the North Sea field
shutdowns, falling 14.2% on the year to 6.98 Bcf/day, only marginally ahead of
demand, which slipped by 1% to 6.85 Bcf/day.
     Last year the UK became a net importer of gas on an annual basis for the
first time since becoming self-sufficient with North Sea gas in the 1970s.
--Richard Swann, richard_swann@platts.com

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