Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: United Kingdom
| Location: | Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France |
| Climate: | temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast |
| Terrain: | mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast |
| Size: | 244820 sq. km total (Land area: 241590 sq. km Water area: 3230 sq.km) |
| Population: | 60,943,912 (July 2008 est.) |
| Languages: | English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) |
| Government: | constitutional monarchy |
| Capital city: | London |
| Legal system: | based on common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| Currency: | British pound (GBP) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
The United Kingdom (UK) is an important political and economic power in Europe and the world. It has the second-largest economy in the European Union (EU) with a nominal 2005 gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.2 trillion. The UK economy grew by 1.8 percent in 2005, with growth of 2.2 percent forecasted for 2006. While the UK has been a member of the EU since 1973, it does not participate in the European single currency, the Euro. The UK is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the EU.
However, after years of being a net exporter of both fuels, the UK became a net importer of natural gas in 2004. Government estimates also predict that the country will become a net importer of oil by the end of the decade. Production from UK oil and natural gas fields peaked in the late 1990s and has declined steadily over the past several years, as the discovery of new reserves has not kept pace with the maturation of existing fields. In response, the government has begun a three-pronged approach to address the predicted domestic shortfalls: 1) increasing domestic production through efficiency gains and the exploitation of marginal fields; 2) establishing necessary import infrastructure, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals and transnational pipelines; and 3) investing in energy conservation and renewables.
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 84 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 91 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Exports: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 8 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Imports: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 15 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Reserves: | 4 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 509 |
| Major fields: |
United Kingdom - recent news
| 06 Aug 25 |
UK: Eku Energy’s battery storage projects in Essex and Buckinghamshire are commissioned with BESS supplier NHOA Energy and ready to go live Two utility-scale energy storage projects at Basildon in Essex and Loudwater in Buckinghamshire, built by global energy storage specialist Eku Energy and global supplier of utility-scale energy storage systems NHOA Energy, have successfully completed testing and verification and are now fully commissioned. |
| 06 Aug 25 |
UK: National Wealth Fund partners with Asterion to back UK grid flexibility through £50m investment in AMP Clean Energy The National Wealth Fund has announced a £50m equity investment in AMP Clean Energy to accelerate the deployment of low-carbon energy infrastructure across the UK, strengthening local energy networks through flexible battery storage and supporting the decarbonisation of industry. |
| 05 Aug 25 |
UK: Northern Endurance Partnership awards Halliburton a contract for carbon capture and storage monitoring Halliburton has been awarded a contract award to provide completions and downhole monitoring services for the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) carbon capture and storage (CCS) system in northeast England’s East Coast Cluster (ECC). |
| 05 Aug 25 |
UK: OEUK responds to expansion of Hynet CCUS cluster Offshore Energies UK has responded to the UK Government shortlisting six projects to start negotiations to join the HyNet carbon capture cluster in the North West. The projects include low-carbon power, hydrogen production, bioenergy with carbon capture, and direct air capture initiatives, all aimed at cutting industrial emissions. |
| 05 Aug 25 |
UK: 2,800 skilled jobs in Wales and North West as CCUS industry grows Having received the green light from the Prime Minister to start construction of the Liverpool Bay Transportation & Storage network in April, the HyNet carbon capture cluster today (Tuesday 5 August) gets another boost, as new projects enter negotiations with government and industry to join the world-leading site. |
United Kingdom - more news
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