UK gas imports soar over 50 pct in Q1 2007 - govt

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - British gas output fell again in the first quarter of this year, so a big jump in demand from power producers had to be met by soaring imports, according to government figures released on Thursday.

After gas prices plunged when several new import facilities opened in Britain last autumn, gas use by power generators jumped by more than a third, year on year, according to the government's quarterly energy statistics report.

Meanwhile, power stations slashed the amount of coal they burnt by more than 21 percent as gas became cheaper to use than a year earlier.

The leap in gas consumption by the electricty sector, partly offset by lower overall demand for the fuel used by most British homes for heating, was met by a 50 percent rise in imports.

One of the mildest winters on record cut gas demand by homes and businesses by around 12 percent year on year.

The huge rise in the amount of gas flowing into Britain from other countries, mainly Norway, more than made up for a 17 percent fall in Britain's output as its own reserves dry up.

Big imports and a mild winter meant there was enough left over to export 44 percent more gas through the link with Belgium than Britain was able to send to continental Europe in the first three months of last year.

Once a net exporter of gas, Britain is becoming increasingly reliant on imported gas to keep its homes warm in winter and its growing number of gas-fired power plants running year round.

The country was a net importer of 91 terawatt hours of gas in the first quarter of this year.

Its own production during the period was 237.41 TWh, while imports were 114.36 TWh and exports totalled 23.20 TWh, according to the figures published on Thursday.