It forecasts an average increase in annual gas demand of 2.2% per annum through to 2014

Assuming UK gas demand for 2005 was around 1.7m BOE/d, escalating at 2.2% pa thru 2014 and assuming 80% imports the JESS forecast assumes that UK will be importing 1.65m BOE/d NG in 2014 i.e. imports will amount to just slightly short of UK's 2005 entire consumption.  Using an import price of $100/BOE (which may well be extremely conservative by 2014 given increasing 'scramble' for scarce enery imports) gas imports would cost UK trade balance $5bn per month or £2.8bn per month @ 1.80 exchange rate.  Put another way projected gas imports by 2014 would more or less double existing trade deficit which is running at around £3bn per month.

The problem doesn't end there - oil imports will likely exceed £1.5bn per month by 2014 and almost every day we read reports of manufacturing and services processes departing UK for low cost bases in China, India etc.; all such moves contribute to deteriorating trade balance.  Neither can UK expect to rely on financial services to offset much of the additional currency costs of energy imports as sizeable downturns in the markets are likely to occur in light of increasing cost and declining availability of oil and gas.

To summarise even if sufficient surpluses in producer nations exist for UK to import gas on such a large scale by 2014 I would seriously question how affordable it is; certainly to borrow such a large amount of foreign currency would mean long term rises in interest rates which in turn would seriously impact those already over-indebted for housing etc.  Not least 2014 is, in energy terms, 'tomorrow' and very little we do now on the supply side will deliver by 2014, certainly not a new generation of nuclear power stations.