Radio 4 Money Box interview with Dale Vince of Ecotricity

Verdigris

do find it almost incredible that China could double gas consumption in 3 years - that suggests an amazing increase in production

Perhaps they were substituting LNG for coal, to mitigate local pollution?

Buster_Danog

MattMattMattUK said:

They may have sold on some gas, which is a separate matter and something that as commercial operations they are entitled to do, just as everyone else is selling gas at commercial rates.

…Gas reserves are usually drawn down during the winters and built up during the summer, in the summer they were not built up because Russia shipped considerably less gas than in previous years, meaning reserves were already low when winter 2021 hit

Just to clarify, how can it be a separate matter If you sell gas that you could have used as reserves because you want to make a profit, then your lack of reserves plays a part in the media panic and higher prices?

I’m not questioning whether or not they are entitled to do it, I’m saying that if you sell what you could have used for reserves then have to buy more gas at a higher market rate then this must lead to higher prices for the consumer, even if the companies made a good profit from selling abroad?