Downing Streets says there is no need to panic over energy supplies

Households and businesses will not face blackouts this winter, Downing Street insisted as gas shipped from Australia was set to dock in the UK.

The Attalos gas tanker was set to arrive at the Isle of Grain terminal in Kent, by the mouth of the Thames, yesterday- believed to be the first cargo of liquified natural gas (LNG) sent from Australia to Europe in six years.

The squeeze on gas supplies in Europe has helped fuel rocketing inflation and driven up household bills, with analysts expecting the energy price cap to rise to £3,554 in October.

But No 10 insisted that there was no risk to UK energy supplies and consumers should not panic.

Some of the gas on that Attalos is likely to be used in the UK straight away, but much of it will probably flow to Europe through the pipelines that connect Britain to the continent.

There it might be channelled into European gas storage sites and some of it could return to Britain during winter.

Concerns that shortages on the continent could jeopardise the supply of gas back to the UK were played down by No 10, which highlighted both North Sea production and the use of "reliable partners" such as Norway in ensuring homes could be heated and the lights kept on over the winter.

The UK has some of the highest LNG import capacity in Europe, but it has very little gas storage.

Therefore, much of the LNG that comes to Europe this summer will arrive in British ports, but be shipped over to European storage sites.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: "Households, businesses and industry can be confident they will get the electricity and gas that they need over the winter.

"That's because we have one of the most reliable and diverse energy systems in the world."

She said people should not panic or feel they should cut down on energy use.

"These decisions, in terms of energy consumption, remain decisions for individuals," she said. "But what I'm saying is that households, businesses and industry can be confident that they will have the electricity and gas that they need."