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
| 03 Jul 26 |
UK: Burnham urged to honour North Sea pledge as oil prices return to pre-war levels Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been urged to honour Labour's commitment to replace the Energy Profits Levy after oil prices returned to the level that prompted the Government to pledge an early end to the windfall tax. |
| 03 Jul 26 |
UK: Britain to see energy security, jobs and investment boost through climate action Families and businesses across the UK will continue to reap the benefits of the clean energy transition, as the government sets a new emissions target to further protect family finances, grow the economy and tackle the climate crisis. |
| 02 Jul 26 |
UK: UKAEA and Eni launch RH3OVA to expedite fusion energy industrialisation The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and, Eni, have formed a joint venture to offer capabilities to the fusion energy sector. Named RH3OVA, and incorporated in the UK the joint venture combines the technical and industrial expertise of both partners to deliver specialist consultancy and operational services to the growing global fusion industry. |
| 02 Jul 26 |
UK: Owner’s Engineer appointed to pioneering energy project Buchan Offshore Wind has appointed Kent as Owner’s Engineer to drive the project into its next phase of development as it progresses towards Front End Engineering Design (FEED), marking another step on the road to Final Investment Decision (FID) and construction by the end of the decade. |
| 02 Jul 26 |
UK: SGE unveils plans for 4.2GW UK Small Modular Reactor fleet SGE, a European Small Modular Reactor (SMR) development and investment platform, has announced its plans to build fourteen GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactors on three sites in the UK. The deployment team includes SGE, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Samsung C&T, Laing O’Rourke, Aecon Group Inc., Google Cloud, Fermi Development, Etara and an experienced nuclear operator. |
United Kingdom - more news
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