Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of how quickly the UK could increase gas produced and supplied to domestic customers by its offshore fields; and if he will make a statement.

Development of capacity in the upstream gas sector can take some years. The UK’s offshore gas sector is maximising production where possible, with output in recent months running at 90-100% of theoretical capacity, and this is expected to continue in the coming months.

New gas wells recently coming online have contributed to a small increase in UK gas production. Oil and Gas Authority projections suggest a further small increase may be seen in 2022 relative to 2021 levels, largely reflecting a planned maintenance shutdown of the Forties pipeline system in 2021 which temporarily reduced production.