Kwarteng considers accelerating UK gas quality relaxation

Minister may override for now a consultation process being run by the country’s health and safety authorities

The UK government is considering “potential regulatory options to extract more gas from existing fields”, energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng told a London conference in late June. The assumption is that the administration is weighing up whether to temporarily widen the allowable specifications for gas injected into the UK’s national transmission system (NTS), ahead of any permanent decision made following the conclusion of a consultation by the country’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE opened a consultation on a proposed revision of the UK’s Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996, or GSMR, in late January, closing on 21 March. GSMR apply to the conveyance of gas through pipes to dom