PARIS -(Dow Jones)- A continued emphasis on supplying gas on a flexible basis, rather than long-term relationships between gas producers and suppliers, could threaten demand for natural gas and the fuel's role as a "bridge" to a low-carbon economy, Centrica PLC (CNA.LN) Chief Executive Sam Laidlaw said Thursday.
"Demand holders and resource holders do have to decide whether they want to move gas in and out of markets flexibly, always seeking optionality over security, in which case we have to accept the consequences of progressive gas demand destruction and a growing shift to renewables and continued price volatility and savings in the investment cycle," Laidlaw told delegates at a gas conference in Paris.
"Alternatively, we could build on traditional models of longer-term relationships using the competitive markets to price gas, but sharing the economic rent through the cycle to promote gas as a stable, reliable source of energy that will help us meet our climate change objectives," he added.
In the U.K., "currently there are very limited, if any, destination-specific contracts," for bringing in liquefied natural gas cargoes he said, adding: "I think it would be good for price stability, good for the consumer and good for the resource holders - in providing security of demand, if those were longer-term relationships."
Centrica is the parent company of British Gas.
-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 40171756; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com