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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
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href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/nfuel23.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/23/ixhome.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/nfuel23.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/23/ixhome.html</A><?xml:namespace
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><STRONG>Fuel crisis might
shut industry, admits minister</STRONG> By Roya Nikkhah and Melissa
Kite<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">(Filed:
23/10/2005)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">The Government has admitted
that companies across <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region></st1:place>
might be forced to close this winter because of fuel
shortages.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">Malcolm Wicks, the energy
minister, made the admission to The Sunday Telegraph just days after the
Government lambasted industry chiefs for being alarmist for suggesting the
possibility of a replay of the three-day week.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">Mr Wicks said: "The balance
between supply and demand for energy is uncomfortably tight. I think if we have
a colder-than-usual winter given the supply shortages, certain industries could
suffer real difficulties." The admission was made after this newspaper revealed
that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> could be paralysed by energy
shortages if the winter is colder than average. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">The Met Office says there is
a 67 per cent likelihood of prolonged cold this year after almost a decade of
mild winters. That, coupled with high fuel prices, raises the fear that industry
will not be able to cope.</SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">Sir Digby Jones, the
director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said that power
shortfalls caused by rising domestic demand and <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
dwindling strategic stockpiles could lead to factory shutdowns and a return to
the three-day week of the 1970s. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s limited stocks of gas
reserves would run out after just one week of sub-zero temperatures, forcing
businesses to shut down.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">Only 11 days' supply of gas
is held in reserve, compared with 55 days' worth elsewhere in <st1:place
w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. Consumer groups fear that two million poorer
households already struggling to cope with the 40 per cent rise in energy prices
since 2003 will be hardest hit. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">Mr Wicks's comments mark a
climbdown in the Government's first position, which was to accuse Sir Digby of
crying wolf. After raising industry concerns with both Alan Johnson, the
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Mr Wicks, Sir Digby was told not
to be "alarmist".<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">"If we have a harsh winter -
and all the long range forecasts are saying that we will - there won't be
sufficient capacity for business and it will be back to the three-day week,"
said Sir Digby. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">Jeremy Nicholson, the
director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, a campaign group for industrial
consumers, said the Government was "absolutely wrong" to accuse Sir Digby of
alarmism.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">A spokesman for the National
Grid said: "We will not speculate on what may or may not happen this winter but,
in the event of a gas shortage, supply to domestic homes is the first priority
above a supply to industry."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
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