Leak hits giant gas terminal

A LEAK at a giant gas terminal on the Yorkshire coast led to the halting of gas flows yesterday.

The terminal at Easington, near Spurn Head, processes gas being piped in from Norway and the North Sea for distribution throughout the UK. One source is a huge undersea storage facility, called Rough, where gas from more than 20 North Sea wells is kept in porous rock formations until needed. Some Norwegian gas is also stored there if not required immediately.

Centrica Storage, which is part of the group owned by British Gas owner Centrica, owns Rough, although day-to-day running is in the hands of Norwegian company Gassco. Yesterday, Centrica issued a brief statement saying a leak had been discovered in the onshore connection between Rough and the UK gas grid and flows had ceased while it was being repaired.

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A spokesman said he was unable to say how much gas had leaked and whether there had been any risk of explosion.

Normal operations were expected to resume today and no gas customer, domestic or industrial, is likely to have noticed anything wrong, according to an industry source.

Easington is a link in a crucial supply chain and market prices, which rose slightly at news of the problem, later eased back down.