What happens if Russia cut off our oil or gas?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Just curious. I know nothing about the percentage of energy supplied by Russia.

How much do we get from elsewhere?

How much havoc would be wreaked at disruption?

Would it mess with the wifi somehow?

The radio earlier said that after last time when it all went pear shaped in Ukraine, "they" (whoever they are) have been working like mad to secure alternative routes, pipelines and supplies.

So in theory we'll be ok...

I think we produce 90 per cent of our gas needs, but sell most of it, so we'd have to stop selling it to use. We also get shale gas from the USA so we would have to buy more of it.
It would get more expensive, but it's unlikely to happen - it would destroy the Russian economy and have implications with other countries, so it's unlikely.

44% of our gas comes from European pipe-lines, some of which are fed from Russia. Presumably to cut us off, they'd have to cut off the rest of Europe as well?

At the moment, 22% of our electricity is being generated from Gas. For a real-time look: gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

Russia would miss out on much needed income would be one consequence that is worth bearing in mind.

I am not sure exactly how much gas Britain gets from Russia, because all the figures I can see are for the EU as a whole - and Russian gas imports are a huge proportion of the EU's gas supply. We import a lot of gas from the continent via interconnectors.

Worst case scenario, there would have to be some kind of rationing imposed - so that no-one is unable to heat their homes completely.

There would be an effect on electricity generation as some of our power comes from gas generators - see the gridwatch website for insight into how much (can't link on here but it's interesting). The lights would not go out completely even if electricity generated from gas dropped to 0 because we have other means of generation, but worst case scenario the supply might not meet demand. This would be particularly noticeable during times of peak demand and when renewables are not generating much. We would likely have to burn more coal at least in the short term. It would certainly concentrate much needed attention on issues around energy security and resilience, which do not get enough attention currently.

Oil (I think) would be slightly less of an issue as we could import it by other means more easily. The price we paid would go up.

Cross posted with Ifailed
That link is worth looking at if you are interested in where our electricty comes from.

Really interesting! Thanks y'all for the info.

I did think Russia would be put off in part by cutting off an income stream as I thought energy was an important part of their economy.

But yes - if they did disconnect us from their supply, I wonder can they do it without disconnecting other parts of Europe?

Russia's economy is already seriously affected by sanctions over the Ukraine. As much as Putin likes to play the hardman, mainly aimed at his own country, they are already hurting.

Germany has long realised they are too reliant on Russian gas and oil, it's one reason why they have invested so much in renewable supplies. If Russia was to cut off our supplies, they would be cutting of their nose to spite their face, it would be they who suffered more (not that I think the ruling elite would care much).

we will all freeze, not a happy thought at all! lets just hope it doesnt happen of course. worrying times.

We would complain less about wind turbines.

This suggests 10% of UK oil came from Russia in 2015, and British Gas suggest that 35% of European gas is Russian, and 44% of UK gas is European so approx 15% of UK gas.
Russia could stop sending ships of oil and gas to the UK, but I think most is piped.