At the height of the North Sea oil boom in the 1980s, Britain’s energy industry accounted for 10 per cent of GDP, allowing then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to push through the most radical economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution.
Today it is just 2 per cent and Britain, a net exporter of energy as recently as 2003, now imports almost half its needs.
Much of that is in the form of Russian gas, which is not an entirely comfortable position to be in when you are engaged, as Thatcher’s successor Theresa May is, in a tit-for-tat battle with Moscow over the attempted assassination of the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Imported Russian gas was the single biggest contributor to the country’s chronic trade imbalance last year, and if Russian President Putin were to turn the taps off there would be a real energy crisis. The back-up plan in an emergency was to dip into the glut of cheap LNG, which was available in abundance on the world market up to recently. But that has now been mopped up by the Chinese who have driven LNG prices to three-year highs.
Strategic, political and economic concerns are therefore causing a major rethink of British energy policy, not dis-similar to what the US went through after the last energy shock in 2008. A decade ago the Americans dramatically accelerated their exploitation of its huge shale deposits, which have turned it into the biggest combined producer of oil and gas in the world today.
That programme was highly controversial at the time, with all sorts of scare stories of kitchen taps running with burning gas, poisoned aquifers and collapsing landscape. But we now know, what we didn’t then, that Russian disinformation and fake news was at least partly behind some of the wilder stories stories and fracking is now an accepted and uncontroversial part of American life.
But not yet in Britain, where there is an abundance of shale gas waiting to be exploited. The Bowland Basin in the north of England is said to be five times thicker than the US fracking zones and can supply as much energy as North Sea oil did at its peak. Energy analysts reckon that if just 10 per cent could be extracted, it would cover Britain’s gas requirement for the next 50 years (85 per cent of British homes rely on gas for their heating).
The problem up to now has been the fierce resistance from an uninformed public that is passionately convinced that fracking is the work of the devil and an even more serious threat to mankind than the Soviet nerve gas used on the Skripals. Fracking enthusiasts point out that the process is much less damaging to the environment than LNG or coal, uses less water than the average golf course and is many times preferable to nuclear whose decommissioning costs run into the trillions of pounds.
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The British government has approached the whole issue with great caution but has allowed just enough activity to let the industry establish a safety record – which it has – and prove the gas is really there in commercial quantities. The energy company Cuadrilla has just drilled rocks near Preston in north-west England which, according to its chief executive Francis Egan, produced “the best results we’ve ever seen – it’s a huge resource”. Mr Egan also points out that the there is an existing gas pipeline just 200 yards away that taps into Britain’s vast network of pipes bringing gas direct into the kitchen of just about every house in the country. He reckons he can produce and deliver gas at prices fully competitive with the Russians.
Growing momentum in the fracking industry is running alongside equally spectacular leaps in the technology of wind-power, where Britain is blessed with some of the best resources in the world. Huge wind farms located in the shallow waters off the Scottish and English coastlines are delivering electricity at prices that no longer need government subsidies. By 2030, according to energy analysts, wind power will be the backbone of Britain’s power system, capable of delivering cheap, efficient and dependable supplies for a century, with gas from the fracking zones not far behind.
Both of these new resources are conveniently located near to the huge industrial wastelands where the world’s first Industrial Revolution began and which may now revive on the back of it, just as America’s fracking industry created a great belt of industrialisation along the US Gulf coast from Texas to Louisiana.
Professor Alan Riley, an energy expert and adviser to the UK government task force on shale gas, reckons that “it is perfectly credible that [Britain] could achieve energy dependence and potentially become a net exporter” by 2025.
The implications of that, post-Brexit, are enormous, not just for Britain's balance of payments and "North-South divide", but for the balance of energy supplies across Europe and even beyond. US crude output is now above 10 million barrels a day for the first time since 1970 with exports rising fast. "The second shale shock," wrote the Financial Times recently, "is set to have an even bigger impact on global oil markets and the geopolitics of energy."
Britain’s resources are not big enough to make much difference to the world equations. But they will make a huge difference to the state of the British economy.
Thirty years ago, North Sea oil provided the revenues and power to turn around the country’s economic fortunes. Fracking and wind-power between them, making nuclear redundant, could be even more significant.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The Transfiguration
Director: Michael O’Shea
Starring: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine
Three stars
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
