War in Iran has sparked fears of an energy crisis - should we be worried?

A National Gas spokesperson refuted reports of a looming crisis (Picture: Adnan Farzat/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

The Government has moved to reassure Brits fearing a looming energy crisis sparked by war in the Middle East that the country has plenty of gas left.

The UK has 6,700 GWh of gas stored up – equal to just 1.5 days of demand,according to new data published by National Gas.

It shows a decline from the 9,000 GWh recorded during the same period last year.

But a National Gas spokesperson refuted reports of a looming crisis. They said: ‘Britain’s gas storage levels are broadly in line with what we would expect at this point in the year and are comparable to this time last year.

‘It’s important to remember that storage makes up only a small part of Britain’s diverse gas supply mix.

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.‘The majority of our gas comes from the UK Continental Shelf and Norway,complemented by LNG,interconnectors with continental Europe,and storage.’A similar figure is sitting in tanks as liquefied natural gas,standing in stark contrast to the weeks-worth of reserves European countries have built up.It means the UK is now paying the highest wholesale gas prices in Europe as supplies from the Middle East dry up.The crunch has led experts to warn that British households will be hit by a boom in energy prices.The government,however,is clear that the UK’s gas supply will not be disrupted by the halt to oil tankers in the Gulf.A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: ‘It is categorically untrue that the UK only has access to 2 days of gas supply. We have a diverse energy mix and are confident in our security of supply.‘Gas will continue to play a key role in our diverse and resilient energy system as we transition to more secure,clean homegrown energy.‘We are working with industry to ensure the gas system is fit for the future,including maintaining security of supply in the rarest scenarios.’

Oil supply shock

Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah,as Iran vows to fire on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz (Picture: REUTERS)The conflict in the Middle East has seen oil tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz – south of the Iranian coast – grind to a standstill.The result,according to Goldman Sachs,has been a shock 17 times larger than Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.The bank said in a note on Friday: ‘We now think that oil prices would likely exceed $100 next week if no signs of solutions emerge by then.‘We now also think it’s likely that oil prices,especially for refined products,would exceed the 2008 and 2022 peaks,if Strait of Hormuz flows were to remain depressed throughout March.’A satellite map shows how shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stopped since Iran said it has closed the key route (Picture: Marine Traffic)The UK could be particularly vulnerable to these price hikes on the international market because it cannot rely on withdrawing gas from storage.Britain once had 12-days worth of storage and 18,000 GWh units last year.On Friday,gas stores were at just 18 per cent of their former strength,whereas liquid natural gas reserves were a little over half full.The price of gas in the UK has already increased by more than anywhere in Europe,Natasha Fielding,head of gas pricing at Argus Media told The Telegraph.She added: ‘We can’t rely on withdrawing more from storage,so we have to get that gas from abroad.’

Where the UK gets its gas from

The UK could be vulnerable to gas hikes on the international market (Picture: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)The government is trying to calm fears,emphasising the fact that just 1 per cent of the UK’s gas supply in 2025 came from Qatar.National Gas also clarified that most of its gas comes from Norway and its own North Sea.Prices are also set in stone until the start of July,due to the energy price cap,which is the maximum rate you can be charged by your energy company for default tariffs.In fact,the price cap will fall by 7 per cent,or £117,annually for the period covering April to June.However,the government is warning that the country are ‘price-takers’.The UK relies on the price of oil and gas as determined by international markets.This means that if the price of gas internationally rises,so could bills in the UK.Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .For more stories like this,check our news page.