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This winter has shown the system we have devised does not have the resilience it should have. It runs on a 'just-in-time' principle which has economic benefits when it works but risks ending up in a 'just-too-late' if all goes wrong," said John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley.

"If the Russians had hit the kind of problems with its neighbours seen in previous years then we would have toppled off the knife edge we have been sitting on with our gas supplies."

The disruptions to supplies from Norway - normally seen as highly reliable - left Britain importing gas through the interconnector pipeline which runs from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Bacton in north Norfolk. In previous years shortages from Siberia have led German and Dutch suppliers to halt gas exports to Britain.

Russia's lack of usual evilness saved Britain! LOL!

Except that it's never been shortages in Russian deliveires that led to reduced supplies to the UK, just higher local demand and priority given to local clients under existing contracts at times of normal Russian deliveries...

Way to rewrite history.


In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 14th, 2010 at 09:33:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This winter has shown the system we have devised does not have the resilience it should have. It runs on a 'just-in-time' principle which has economic benefits when it works but risks ending up in a 'just-too-late' if all goes wrong," said John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley.

Now these people discover that efficiency harms resiliency?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jan 14th, 2010 at 09:43:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
But requiring actual resiliency would reduce profitability. That would be UN-REFORM. Better would be to charge customers a "resiliency fee", which you could just pocket. When things go bad just ask "Who could have known?"  

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Thu Jan 14th, 2010 at 11:23:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I believe that .. ahem ..a little birdie pointed this out to the Guardian nearly 2 years ago

So, the UK has a "competitive" market but no gas. Europe has a dysfunctional market and all the gas it needs. Tell me again, who it was who got it wrong?


keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Jan 14th, 2010 at 02:05:21 PM EST
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