Britain Has Just Two Days’ Worth of Gas Stores as Iran Blocks Straits of Hormuz

Written by Richard Eldred on March 12, 2026. Posted in Current News

Britain’s gas tanks are running on fumes with just two days’ supply left, as Middle East attacks knock out the world’s biggest gas plant and Iran shuts a crucial shipping route.

The Mail has more.

The UK’s gas reserves have dwindled from 18,000 GWh last year to 6,700 GWh, enough for just 1.5 days of demand, according to new data published by National Gas. There is a similar quantity stored as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Europe is much better prepared to weather fluctuations in supply, with several weeks’ worth of gas stored up.

Traders have been exploiting the UK’s situation by charging it a premium price on gas, knowing it has no choice but to outbid its European competitors. The UK is now paying the highest wholesale gas price in Europe.

Disruption to the gas market is driven partly by the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world’s natural gas and oil flows, and also by the shutdown of production in some places.

Qatar announced at the beginning of the week it had suspended production at Ras Laffan, the world’s largest natural gas facility, after it came under Iranian bombardment

Meanwhile, oil prices are set to soon hit $100 a barrel and that could rise to $150 if the war drags on, industry experts warned. …

The UK used to have up to 12 days worth of gas in storage, but the system collapsed after successive government ministers pulled its funding.

National Gas data showed that gas stores were at 18% of their former capacity on Friday, while LNG stores were just over half full. …

Meanwhile, fears of a significant spike in oil prices are also growing, driven largely by disruption to the flow through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed to “set ablaze” any Western tanker attempting to sail through the strait – and hundreds have since amassed at either end.

Goldman Sachs warned that the current drop in the Middle East’s oil output is 17 times larger than the peak drop in Russia’s output after it invaded Ukraine. …

Experts have told households in the UK to expect to be “hit from multiple sides” by price rises driven by the Middle East conflict. …

Any price rise in household bills would hit in July, when a new energy price cap will be set.

Energy infrastructure has been a key battleground of the current conflict, with Israel overnight blitzing oil facilities in Iran.

Worth reading in full.

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