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
| 11 Jul 25 |
Trydan powers ahead with first onshore wind projects Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru has announced proposals for three new wind farms with the potential to generate up to 400 MW of clean electricity – enough to power 350,000 Welsh homes’ annual average electricity needs. That is around a quarter of the homes in Wales. |
| 11 Jul 25 |
UK: Centrica completes transformation of Brigg Energy Park Centrica has transformed the site of an ageing power station in Lincolnshire into an ultra-modern 150 megawatt (MW) energy park. The former turbine hall at the Brigg Power Station, which was decommissioned in 2020 after nearly 30 years of operations, is now home to a new 50MW peaking plant. |
| 10 Jul 25 |
UK: Crondall Energy selected for Innovate UK’s Innovation Exchange challenge on Anchor Monitoring Crondall Energy has announced that its SafeMoor technology has been selected by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, and Flotation Energy as the solution provider for the Innovation Exchange challenge: Solutions for Anchor Monitoring, with a Focus on Anchor Slippage, supported by Innovate UK. |
| 10 Jul 25 |
UK Government sets out reforms to create a fair, secure, affordable and efficient electricity system Government confirms reforms to the national pricing electricity market that will create a fairer, cheaper, more secure, and more efficient energy system. |
| 10 Jul 25 |
UK/Germany: Masdar and Iberdrola announce €5.2bn UK Offshore wind deal and full energization of 476MW German Offshore wind farm Masdar, a global clean energy leader, and Iberdrola, one of the world’s largest energy companies, have reached two major milestones with a €5.2 billion co-investment in the UK’s East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm – the largest offshore wind transaction of the decade – and the full energization of their 476MW Baltic Eagle project in Germany. |
United Kingdom - more news
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