Supplying UK gas
Find out more about natural gas, and how Shell UK is helping to supply the crucial energy the UK needs today.
In 2024, 78.2% of Shell’s global investments included oil & gas, 11.37% included low-carbon energy solutions and 10.43% non-energy products. Shell’s target is to become a net-zero emissions (NZE) energy business by 2050. Disclaimers, including NZE target: shell.com/disclaimer
In the UK, as the country moves towards its target of net-zero emissions by 2050, Shell UK aims to play a leading role in securing vital energy for today, while investing in, and helping to build, the energy system of the future.
Shell UK helps supply more than 20% of the UK’s gas.
Helping power the UK now, and into the future
Read the transcript
Read the transcript
Title: Helping power the UK now, and into the future
Duration: 01:47 seconds
Description:
Meet Keana and Alan, part of the Shell UK Team. Together they are helping supply the energy needed today and into the future.
Helping power the UK now, and into the future
[Music]
An upbeat orchestral pop song with strings being the lead instruments, part of the familiar Sound of Shell library of music
[Text displays]
In 2024, 78.2% of Shell’s global investments included oil & gas, 11.37% included low-carbon energy solutions and 10.43% non-energy products. Shell’s target is to become a net-zero emissions (NZE) energy business by 2050. Disclaimers, including NZE target: shell.com/disclaimer
[Visuals]
An aerial shot of an industrial plant, with multiple metal pipes of a variety of sizes interweaving each other against tall metal structures in amongst the green Scottish east coast. The camera cuts to a female in red overalls and a green hard hat, as she walks amongst the pipes and towers. The shot changes and the female is walking along a path in amongst the pipes and she introduces herself
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
I’m Keana, I help get gas from here, in the UK North Sea,
[Animated sequence]
Keana Jardine, Shell employee, Offshore Operations
[Visuals]
Keana points to her left and the camera cuts a sunny day on an offshore platform, the sky is blue, the blue sea calm and three people dressed in red overalls and yellow hard hats are looking at a red metal storage cage. In the background on the platform we can see a large metal crane and a metal tower.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
to here for processing.
[Visuals]
The footage cuts back to Keana as she walks alongside some thick shiny pipes, she’s moving from right to left.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
I’m part of the Shell UK team that’s helping supply more than 20% of the UK’s gas.
Gas we need every day.
[Visuals]
The footage cuts to a standard kitchen gas hob, and the gas ignites with blue flames. A young couple are in their kitchen cooking on the gas hob, a small metal saucepan is being stirred by the female as she looks at a tablet device, the male has his hand on her right shoulder and they are both smiling happily.
[Visuals]
The footage switches back to the gas plant, and we see a male in red overalls, a yellow hard hat and safety glasses is carrying out safety checks on a control panel in amongst the gas pipes, taking notes on a tablet. Once finished, the male hands the tablet to Keana.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
I’m starting my day here in Scotland, at one of Shell UK’s Gas Plants, St Fergus,
[Visuals]
The camera cuts back to the offshore platform, the blue sea is calm and the blue sky is visible through a thin blanket of clouds. Keana in red overalls and a yellow hard hat is watching a heavy item being moved by the crane, as a male also in red overalls, yellow hard hat and ear defenders, watches on
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
But normally I’m with my team offshore, on this platform 200 kilometers from Aberdeen.
[Visuals]
The footage goes inside the offshore platform, Keana has removed her hard hat but remains in her red overalls – she is sat in some sort of control room, with multiple computers screens, keyboards and a wall of switches. Sat down at the control room, another male in red overalls. Keane is pointing to the screen in front of the male.
[Visuals]
The camera then cuts to a locker room, Keane is sat on a bench in front of the pale blue lockers, smiling and sharing something amusing with two colleagues, both male and both in red overalls.
[Visuals]
The footage switches to the canteen on the offshore platform, Keana is sat at a table eating lunch with two male colleagues, in the background other tables with other staff eating their lunch,
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
That might sound far from home, but we have our work family.
[Visuals]
The camera cuts back to the gas plant, Keane back in her red overalls and green hard hat is walking towards camera, more pipes, cables and metals structures in the background
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
It’s my job to help extract gas initially to process the gas offshore before it is piped here to St Fergus.
[Visuals]
The footage switches another room on the offshore platform, Keane in her red overalls, yellow hard hat and safety glasses is showing two male colleagues in red overalls and hard hats a large electrical cupboard, amongst a room full of similar electrical cupboards.
[Visuals]
The footage transitions back to the gas plant, the camera is close to Keane’s face, her green hard hat has a Shell pecten logo on it, her red overalls also have a Shell pecten logo on it. In the background more pipes, and the footage changes to show other much larger pipes appearing to come straight out of the ground. Keane is walking towards the camera talking.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
These pipes carry between 15-20% of the UKs gas demand.
[Visuals]
The footage shows three people in red overalls and hard hats looking closely at some sort of control panel in amongst many pipes of a variety of sizes. One of the three people is Keane, and as the camera moves around the offshore platform featuring Keana and the other two males, it’s clear Keana is showing them around and training them.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
We separate out parts of the gas, for example methane, this is then delivered to national gas, and eventually ends up in the gas you use at home.
[Visuals]
Back to the Scottish gas plant, Keana in her red overalls and green hat is walking with the male that was checking the control panel with his tablet, he’s wearing red overalls and a yellow hard hat. They are talking to each other and walking towards the camera, underneath many very large gas pipes.
[Visuals]
The footage cuts to the male in the red overalls and yellow hard hat, showing Keana some of the safety elements of the Scottish gas plant, he’s pointing a variety of dials, switches, levers and safety equipment in amongst pipes of all sorts of sizes.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
Other components of the gas, such as Butane, go to our Shell Fife natural gas liquids plant.
[Visuals]
The footage cuts to a group of four people cooking sweetcorn and beef burgers on an outdoor gas bbq, before switching back to Keane talking to camera in front of the many gas pipes in the Scottish facility, before switching to a young couple sat on their sofa at home, both looking happy, the female is laughing and cups a mug of tea.
[Text displays and Keana narrates]
Butane is used every day by people in cookers and BBQ’s. A part of the gas we produce also goes to power electricity in homes in the UK.
[Visuals]
The footage shows two males people in another control room, this has an arc of computer screens on three levels, and many keyboards and switches underneath them. One of the males is the one showing Keana around earlier in the film, but not in his red overalls and hard hat. The other male is sat at the control desk and pointing to the screen. The camera then cuts to the earlier seen male, and he faces the camera and introduces himself, with the arc of computer screens in the background, the footage then shows several close ups of different parts of the control room and computer screens.
[Text displays and Alan narrates]
I’m Alan, I work in the control room here at St Fergus, we are here 365 days a year.
[Animated sequence]
Alan Paterson, Shell Control Room Operator, St Fergus Gas Plant
[Visuals]
The footage switches back to Alan with the arc of computer screens in the background – he gestures towards them with his thumb and continues to talk to camera.
[Text displays and Alan narrates]
These screens behind me help us to see that all systems are working correctly and safely, delivering Gas to the UK.
[Visuals]
The footage goes back to the aerial shot of the Scottish gas plant and then to an aerial shot of a small newly built development of around 30 houses in the countryside, and then to a nice 3 story house in the early evening, the warm white light shining through the windows from the inside contrasting with the cold light of the early evening outside
[Visuals]
The footage switches back to Alan with the arc of computer screens in the background talking to camera– and then back to Keana in her red overalls and PPE equipment talking to camera
[Text displays and Alan narrates]
Gas that has an incredible journey to reach homes and business up and down the country.
Shell UK is helping power the UK now
[Text displays and Keane narrates]
and into the future.
[Visuals]
The footage cuts a white screen, Shell shaped ripples spread out from the centre of the screen, and the familiar red and yellow Pecten logo appears in the centre, with the words Powering Progress appearing underneath. In the top right of the screen, the familiar dancing black horse in a yellow shield logo of Scuderia Ferrari HP and Ferrari Innovation Partner.
[Sound]
The familiar five note Shell mnemonic plays brightly on a piano
Powering Progress.
© 2025 Shell International Ltd
How does the UK use natural gas?
Hand-in-hand with the growth in low- and zero-carbon energy, North Sea gas will continue to play a critically important role in the energy transition and meeting the UK’s energy demand.
Source: Offshore Energies UK Business Outlook, 2025
73%
Percentage of UK homes heated by gas
30%
Percentage gas contributes to UK’s power supply
90%
Percentage of gas the UK is projected to import in 2050
Getting gas from the North Sea to UK homes and businesses
North Sea gas operations
Extraction, processing and distribution
After being extracted and initially processed offshore on operations like Penguins, Shearwater and Pierce, gas from the Northern and Central North Sea is piped to our gas plant at St. Fergus near Peterhead in Scotland, and gas from the Southern North Sea at Bacton near Norfolk, England. Gas from our Victory field in the North Sea West of Shetland is processed onshore at the Shetland Gas Plant before being piped to the UK mainland at St Fergus.
At these gas plants, the gas is processed before being transported into the UK’snational gas network, where it travels through a vast network of pipes which run beneath the ground to get to where it needs to go – including UK homes and businesses.
We also operate the Fife Natural Gas Liquids Plant (FNGL) and the Braefoot Bay Marine Terminal in Mossmorran, Scotland. The NGLs are received at the plant via a 220km underground pipeline from the St Fergus gas plant and separated into ethane, propane, butane and gasoline.
Shell UK is also a shareholder in the Dragon Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Wales, which provides a critical link between the UK and overseas gas suppliers, bringing in LNG from 19 countries.
Gas from Norway
Gas from the deep-water Ormen Lange project 120 kilometres (75 miles) off the coast of Norway also contributes towards the UK’s gas needs. We pipe it to a processing plant on land at Nyhamna in Norway. Once impurities are removed from the gas, it is piped to the UK through one of the world’s longest subsea pipelines.
Shell UK’s projects in development
We are moving forward with Jackdaw, which could represent more than 6% of projected UK North Sea gas production.
Building skills for the energy transition
Shell UK is investing in people and communities to help build the skills the UK needs for the energy transition.
Helping power the UK now, and into the future
From providing access to electric vehicle (EV) chargers, to helping supply UK gas, to building skills for the energy transition. Learn how Shell UK is helping power the UK now, and into the future.
Shell's target is to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.
Shell’s climate target
Tackling climate change is an urgent challenge. That’s why Shell’s target is to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. This means net-zero carbon emissions from our operations. It also means net-zero carbon emissions from the energy products we sell, including those produced by others, which currently account for over 90% of the total emissions we report.
Shell are investing $10-15 billion on low-carbon energy solutions between 2023 and the end of 2025. Shell are also investing in oil and gas production with lower emissions as we provide energy today while helping to build the low-carbon energy system of the future.
Frequently asked questions
Why are you still investing in oil and gas?
Why are you still investing in oil and gas?
The world will need energy from oil and gas for many years to come. Just over two-thirds of Shell’s capital spending in 2023 was on maintaining supplies of the vital energy the world needs today. This includes liquefied natural gas (LNG) which we expect will remain a critical part of the energy mix for many years to come, providing secure energy, replacing coal in industry and providing stability to the electricity grid.
Shell is also a significant investor in the energy transition, investing $10-15 billion between 2023 and the end of 2025 in low-carbon energy solutions.
What’s the role of gas in the energy transition?
What’s the role of gas in the energy transition?
Gas is available at scale and serves both energy security and the energy transition. It provides heating and cooling for industries, homes and businesses and is fuelling trucks and ships. It also provides grid stability and flexibility, which enables the continued growth of wind and solar energy in electricity generation. A crucial immediate step to lowering emissions is switching from coal to natural gas to generate electricity, which can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and dramatically improve air quality.
How does gas fit with Shell’s and the UK’s net-zero ambitions?
How does gas fit with Shell’s and the UK’s net-zero ambitions?
Hand in hand with the growth in low and zero-carbon energy, North Sea gas will continue to play a critically important role in the energy transition and meeting the UK’s energy demand. The UK Climate Change Committee estimates that 20% of our energy will still come from oil and gas in 2050. To maintain the secure supply of energy on which the country relies, it is vital that the world does not dismantle the current energy system faster than it can build the energy system of the future.
Shell’s target is to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. This means net-zero carbon emissions from our operations – our Scope 1 and 2 emissions – and net zero from the end use of all the energy products we sell – the Scope 3 emissions we report – which account for over 90% of the total emissions reported. Learn more
What are some of the benefits of producing homegrown gas, rather than having to import it?
What are some of the benefits of producing homegrown gas, rather than having to import it?
According to analysis published by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), North Sea gas is significantly cleaner and supports the drive to net zero greenhouse gas emissions far more than imports. This is because of both the way the gas is transferred and, in some cases, the methods of extraction. Helping to deliver UK energy security and the drive to reach net zero go hand-in-hand. The analysis shows that domestically-produced gas creates significantly fewer emissions than average imports, and that continuing to produce gas in the UK as cleanly as possible will assist in the drive to cut emissions.
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