Latest news with #ChrisOShea
Bloomberg
28-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Centrica Expands to New York With Build-Out of Gas Trading Unit
Centrica Plc is opening a trading office in New York that will underpin its growth in natural gas. Subsidiary Centrica Energy will establish its first US commodity-trading office aimed at building a physical gas business, Chief Executive Officer Chris O'Shea said in an interview. The sector is betting hundreds of billions of dollars that the fuel has a place in the world's energy mix through at least 2050.
Telegraph
18-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain's biggest gas storage facility faces closure unless ministers step in
The chief executive of British Gas has warned that Britain's biggest gas storage facility will be shut down unless ministers agree to help fund the loss-making site's redevelopment. Chris O'Shea, the chief executive of British Gas-owner Centrica, warned that the Rough facility in the North Sea, which represents half of UK's natural gas storage capacity, would be decommissioned unless the government agreed to underwrite its £2bn overhaul. Centrica is seeking to redevelop the 40-year-old site to be able to store hydrogen alongside natural gas. The company has asked ministers for a so-called cap-and-floor mechanism to help fund the project. While Centrica would provide the investment up front, the mechanism would effectively mean guaranteed funding underwritten by a levy on consumer bills. Without state support, Mr O'Shea said Rough would face closure. Centrica has already stopped filling the facility off the Yorkshire coast amid concerns about the site's financial viability, prompted by a fall in wholesale gas prices. Mr O'Shea told the BBC: 'Inevitably what will happen is this asset will be decommissioned. It will be shut down, we'll remove everything that we've got here, it will be like it was never here, and then we'll lose this resilience.' The site, which lost £100m last year year, can hold enough gas to meet Britain's needs for six days – half the total 12 day capacity the nation has overall. If upgraded, Rough could provide up to 30 days of supplies. If it shuts, the nation's reserves could drop to just 6 days, compared with around 100 in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Gas is envisaged to comprise up to 5pc of the UK's energy demand by 2030, even under the Government's plan to shift to a clean power system by the end of the decade. A government spokesman said: 'The future of Rough storage is a commercial decision for Centrica, but we remain open to discussing proposals on gas storage sites, as long as it provides value for money for taxpayers.' Mr O'Shea also warned that Ed Miliband's plan to establish a clean power grid by the turn of the decade risked failing. He said achieving the 2030 target will be 'very challenging'. The Centrica chief said: 'It's not impossible but it's not easy. I can't say, hand on heart, that we'll get there.' While the target might be attainable 'if we all pull in the same direction,' it represented the sort of extremely ambitious goal that Centrica sometimes sets for its own people without certainty of success. He said: 'The reality is it might not be just where we want to be by 2030. But probably by having that very stretching target we will be a lot closer than we would otherwise have been.' Doubts over the achievability of the Government's net zero targets are adding to pressure the Energy Secretary faces to temper the pace of Britain's transition to renewables. Analysts at consultancy Cornwall Insight warned in January that just two thirds of the solar and onshore wind power needed to achieve Mr Miliband's goal would be ready by 2030. The Energy Secretary has already diluted other green policies, including a ban on new non-electric cars by 2030, amid a growing backlash from voters, unions and Labour MPs. Mr Miliband is also reviewing plans to erect thousands of pylons across the countryside, The Telegraph has revealed. Mr O'Shea's warning about the risks to the 2030 target comes days after he said the shift to net zero would not cut household energy bills, despite promises from the Labour Government. The British Gas chief wrote on LinkedIn that the shift to renewables 'will NOT materially reduce UK electricity prices from current levels'. During last year's election campaign Mr Miliband promised that the shift to clean energy would save households £300 per year by 2030. Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr O'Shea reiterated his concerns about such price promises. He said: 'The thing that frustrates me is that we will have people who give sound bites, but it might not be backed up by fact. You see this become a Left versus Right thing. 'New renewable development will not bring down the price. If we have a clean energy system that people can't afford to pay their bills, we will have failed.' A government spokesman said: 'As shown by the National Energy System Operator's independent report, our mission for clean power by 2030 is achievable and will deliver a more secure energy system, which could see a lower cost of electricity and lower bills.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Britain's biggest gas storage facility faces closure unless ministers step in
The chief executive of British Gas has warned that Britain's biggest gas storage facility will be shut down unless ministers agree to help fund the loss-making site's redevelopment. Chris O'Shea, the chief executive of British Gas-owner Centrica, warned that the Rough facility in the North Sea, which represents half of UK's natural gas storage capacity, would be decommissioned unless the government agreed to underwrite its £2bn overhaul. Centrica is seeking to redevelop the 40-year-old site to be able to store hydrogen alongside natural gas. The company has asked ministers for a so-called cap-and-floor mechanism to help fund the project. While Centrica would provide the investment up front, the mechanism would effectively mean guaranteed funding underwritten by a levy on consumer bills. Without state support, Mr O'Shea said Rough would face closure. Centrica has already stopped filling the facility off the Yorkshire coast amid concerns about the site's financial viability, prompted by a fall in wholesale gas prices. Mr O'Shea told the BBC: 'Inevitably what will happen is this asset will be decommissioned. It will be shut down, we'll remove everything that we've got here, it will be like it was never here, and then we'll lose this resilience.' The site, which lost £100m last year year, can hold enough gas to meet Britain's needs for six days – half the total 12 day capacity the nation has overall. If upgraded, Rough could provide up to 30 days of supplies. If it shuts, the nation's reserves could drop to just 6 days, compared with around 100 in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Gas is envisaged to comprise up to 5pc of the UK's energy demand by 2030, even under the Government's plan to shift to a clean power system by the end of the decade. A government spokesman said: 'The future of Rough storage is a commercial decision for Centrica, but we remain open to discussing proposals on gas storage sites, as long as it provides value for money for taxpayers.' Mr O'Shea also warned that Ed Miliband's plan to establish a clean power grid by the turn of the decade risked failing. He said achieving the 2030 target will be 'very challenging'. The Centrica chief said: 'It's not impossible but it's not easy. I can't say, hand on heart, that we'll get there.' While the target might be attainable 'if we all pull in the same direction,' it represented the sort of extremely ambitious goal that Centrica sometimes sets for its own people without certainty of success. He said: 'The reality is it might not be just where we want to be by 2030. But probably by having that very stretching target we will be a lot closer than we would otherwise have been.' Doubts over the achievability of the Government's net zero targets are adding to pressure the Energy Secretary faces to temper the pace of Britain's transition to renewables. Analysts at consultancy Cornwall Insight warned in January that just two thirds of the solar and onshore wind power needed to achieve Mr Miliband's goal would be ready by 2030. The Energy Secretary has already diluted other green policies, including a ban on new non-electric cars by 2030, amid a growing backlash from voters, unions and Labour MPs. Mr Miliband is also reviewing plans to erect thousands of pylons across the countryside, The Telegraph has revealed. Mr O'Shea's warning about the risks to the 2030 target comes days after he said the shift to net zero would not cut household energy bills, despite promises from the Labour Government. The British Gas chief wrote on LinkedIn that the shift to renewables 'will NOT materially reduce UK electricity prices from current levels'. During last year's election campaign Mr Miliband promised that the shift to clean energy would save households £300 per year by 2030. Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr O'Shea reiterated his concerns about such price promises. He said: 'The thing that frustrates me is that we will have people who give sound bites, but it might not be backed up by fact. You see this become a Left versus Right thing. 'New renewable development will not bring down the price. If we have a clean energy system that people can't afford to pay their bills, we will have failed.' A government spokesman said: 'As shown by the National Energy System Operator's independent report, our mission for clean power by 2030 is achievable and will deliver a more secure energy system, which could see a lower cost of electricity and lower bills.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
BBC News
18-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Gas storage facility could close without government help, Centrica boss warns
The UK's largest gas storage facility could be closed if the government does not help support a redevelopment of the site, the boss of the company which owns it has told the chief executive Chris O'Shea told BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that its Rough storage facility would be "shut down" without government help over energy - which owns British Gas - says the site is set to lose £100m this year, and it wants to invest £2bn in the facility so it can use it to store more gas, including government said the future of Rough was a commercial decision for Centrica but it is open to discussing proposals. The Rough facility is off the coast of East Yorkshire, and accounts for about half of the capacity the UK has to store was closed in 2017, but then partly reopened in October 2022 following the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of this month, Centrica said it was in "constructive discussions" with the government for a support mechanism that would allow investment in the Rough site to company is seeking a "cap and floor" pricing mechanism. This means that if energy prices fall below a certain level its revenues will be topped up, but prices would be capped if they rise too high."What we're asking for is simply for the government to help create the conditions which will unlock £2bn of investment," Mr O'Shea told the BBC."It will create thousands of jobs in the construction phase, and it will safeguard the jobs of very highly skilled colleagues that are offshore."Without this investment he said the site would be decommissioned "and we'll lose this resilience".He said the UK currently has 12 days of gas storage, of which Rough provides six."So if we don't have Rough anymore, then we go down to six days. Now, if we take Rough to full capacity, we will go up to about 25, or 30 days." Last week, Mr O'Shea said the way that the energy pricing mechanism worked meant that building of renewables would not "materially" reduce UK electricity prices from current told Laura Kuenssberg on a visit to the North Sea platform that decarbonisation was important and also a "huge economic opportunity".However he added that "the price we see today for electricity is the same as the price that we're given to new renewable developments"."Therefore, that new renewable development will not bring down the price."He added that he thought the government's 2030 target for clean energy was "very challenging, but I think it's right that the energy secretary has set a very stretching target"."It's not impossible, no, but it's not easy." Pay row Last year, Mr O'Shea told the BBC that the £4.5m pay he received the previous year was "impossible to justify".And earlier this month, nearly 40% of Centrica's shareholders voted against the company's latest pay asked about this by Laura Kuenssberg, Mr O'Shea said: "I don't set my own pay."I think it's really difficult," he said. "I am unbelievably fortunate. I have a job where the market rate is is more than ever thought I would have done."
Telegraph
13-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Net zero will not bring electricity prices down, says British Gas boss
Britain's shift to a net zero power grid will not bring down electricity prices down for families, the boss of British Gas has said. Chris O'Shea, the chief executive of British Gas's parent company Centrica, wrote on LinkedIn that the shift to renewable power 'will NOT materially reduce UK electricity prices from current levels'. He added: 'They may give price stability, and avoid future price spikes based on the international gas market, but they will definitely not reduce the price.' Mr O'Shea based his conclusion on an analysis comparing the cost of renewable energy with gas, showing that the cheapest renewables cost roughly the same as gas and the most exotic are up to three times as expensive. It suggests that the move to an energy system based around wind farms, solar parks or emerging technologies like tidal power will not lead to lower bills. The verdict from the boss of one of Britain's biggest energy providers represents a damning rebuttal of Labour's pledges to consumers. During last year's election campaign Ed Miliband, now Energy Secretary, promised that the shift to clean energy would save households £300 per year by 2030. Mr O'Shea said: 'We need to stop having a polarised debate populated with unsubstantiated, but convenient, sound bites. 'I fully support the move to a cleaner energy system. I am simply very frustrated that people peddle misinformation at best, and disinformation at worst.' The British Gas boss made no mention of any particular politicians or parties but his judgment contradicts claims made in last year's Labour Party manifesto, which said: 'Families and businesses will have lower bills for good, from a zero-carbon electricity system.'
