Pipelines to bring down gas prices

Pipelines to bring down gas prices
Michelle Castile

The article begins with the chairman of regulator Ofgem attempting to give hope that energy costs could possibly be lower this upcoming winter. The reason leading to this premise is that UK gas supplies will be under less pressure this year. Aiding in this hopeful situation as well is that the pipelines from Norway and the Netherlands will be completed and ready for use. Also claimed is that unforeseen events will not occur this year and they did last year leading to shortage. Energy minister, Malcolm Wicks opposes the chairman’s notion, claiming that we will see a repeat of last year’s gas shortage.
I will be the first to admit that I am not expert when it comes to looking at economics. However, when I read this article I couldn’t help but think that the chairman’s viewpoints seemed naïve. To claim that unforeseen events will not occur cannot be accurate. It is near impossible to be prepared for every situation and to assume that dispute will not occur. There is no way to tell when an unforeseen event will occur , because that’s exactly when it is, an unpredicted event. I do understand that new pipelines could attribute to a difference in supplies. However, when I read the contradiction proposed by Wicks, my presumption is pessimistic in that another gas shortage is inevitable.

LexisNexis No author known August 25, 2006 http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100045996&docId=l:421630591&start=5