The Greek Chorus And The Source Of Gas

The usual suspects are engaging in their usual determined attempts to miss the point this morning. This is the reaction to yesterday's ministerial announcement that the government is going to try to speed up the development of a UK shale gas industry, things having pretty much ground to a halt in the planning process over the last few years.

The green blob's very own Greek chorus is commenting grumpily about an article in the Sun, which said that "officials" had told them that it was "critical to reduce reliance on gas from countries like Russia". "But wait", the chorus solemnly intones, "we only get 1% of our gas from Russia. We are in no way reliant on them".This is true, but doesn't do anything to refute the point of the ministerial statement, which didn't mention Russia at all. We currently produce more than half of our gas supplies domestically, in the North Sea. However, as North Sea reserves dwindle, this proportion is falling fast. In the future, reliance on "countries like Russia" will almost certainly increase and this is definitely a "bad thing".Frack on.