Utility companies: gas industry

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

Online articles

The library provides full access to articles from leading business, finance and management journals.

View the latest updates on trends and forecasts in the gas industry

Access to articles is provided subject to suppliers’ terms of use.

Useful links

European Power and Utilities Report
Quarterly report published by KPMG on the European power and utilities sector. Areas covered include prices and margins, financial performance of European power and utilities companies, regulatory developments, mergers and acquisitions and future outlook for the sector.

Energy Outlook
Annual publication from BP projecting long-term trends in energy production, trade and consumption around the world. The full report, individual region and country factsheets and Excel data tables are available to download.

Market research

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Industry profiles and SWOT analyses

Industry profiles give an overview of market size in different countries or regions, the competitive landscape and provide a forecast of market performance. These profiles are available exclusively for ICAEW members and ACA students through the Library & Information Service.

Regional reports

Africa

Asia

Europe

Latin America

Middle East

North America

Oceania

Australia

If you’re looking for industry profiles for regions or countries not listed above, please contact the Library on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

SWOT analyses examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for major companies operating in this sector are available.

View the latest SWOT analysis reports

If you experience any problems accessing these resources, please see our online resources troubleshooting FAQ.

Other market research specialists

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the energy, utilities and recycling industries from Euromonitor, with a range of global, country and company level reports. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including gas distribution and supply. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
Report from Mintel covering the UK gas supply and distribution market. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.

Further resources

The energy supplier market
Report from the National Audit Office, published in June 2022, on the recent exit of energy suppliers from the market. Part 1 includes information on the nature of the energy market in Great Britain, the regulatory system for the energy supplier market and how the energy supplier market has developed in recent decades.

Industry news

Need to find the latest news on this industry sector? We can carry out industry news searches using a range of trade titles and general business sources through our databases. To discuss your requirements, please contact the enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com.

Statistics on the UK

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero compiles annual, quarterly and monthly statistics on a wide range of topics within the gas industry, including:

supply and consumption;
gas storage sites;
natural gas imports and exports;
production.

Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets)

Ofgem regularly produces fact sheets giving comparisons on gas storage in the UK and on the energy market as a whole.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Extraction of natural gas (B06.2)
See Section B: Mining and quarrying
Support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction (09.1)
See Section B: Mining and quarrying
Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains (35.2)
See Section D: Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

Statistics on Europe

Eurogas

Eurogas publishes a number of reports in its data & insights section. Its annual Statistical Report provides data on:

Primary energy consumption
Final energy consumption
Inland deliveries of natural gas
Natural gas supplies
LNG imports
Underground storage facilities
Total length of pipelines
Number of gas customers
Number of employees
Number of natural gas vehicles
Natural gas reserves

It also maintains a web page on policy area - taxation.

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Extraction of natural gas (B062) ()
Support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction (B091)
Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains (D352)

See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’.

Global statistics

International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency (IEA) provides statistics on natural gas by country and region. Figures include:

production
imports and exports
domestic supply
transformation
energy industry own use
final consumption.

The IEA also publishes several annual statistical reports on the sector, including Medium-Term Gas Market Report. Each report contains detailed country-by-country data and analysis of historical and current market trends. They can be purchased from the OECD and IEA bookshops.

BP

BP produces an annual Statistical Review of World Energy containing detailed data on reserves, prices, trade, production and consumption of different energy sources broken down by country, region and sector. Historical data is also available to download. The report covers oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, hydroelectricity, renewable energy and primary energy.

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the Industrial Commodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

Natural gas (12)
Coke-oven gas (17)
Gasworks gas (17)

UNIDO

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has compiled and published World Statistics on Mining and Utilities 2018, providing data by country on natural gas.

Employment

UK

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

energy plant operatives; and
managers in mining and energy.

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Extraction of natural gas (062)
Support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction (091)
Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains (352)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a section on gas health and safety, which includes latest regulations affecting this industry.

Beyond Brexit: food, environment, energy and health
House of Lords select committee report (March 2021) on what the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) means for food trade, fisheries, environment and climate change, energy and carbon pricing, chemicals and health.

Impact of Brexit on the energy sector
Publication from law firm Norton Rose Fulbright (February 2021) on the impact of Brexit on the energy sector. Covers a range of areas including nuclear power, renewable energy and gas.

Import and export

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation.

UK key players, ratios and trends

We can produce reports on this sector using selected information from the FAME company database. Reports are available for:

Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains
UK SIC (2007) Code 35.20

Summaries of the three types of report we can produce are given below. You can find further information, a sample report, pricing details and an online order form on our industry sector reports page.

We also operate a bespoke reports service with results tailored to your specifications. Please contact our enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com to discuss your requirements.

Key players report

Our key players report looks at the top companies (by turnover) in any one of the segments within this sector. Reports usually include the top 100 companies but in more specialised sectors with fewer than 100 companies we show all companies with disclosed figures. The reports provide data on 11 comparative fields for the last available year, including:

turnover;
profit margins;
returns on shareholder funds;
solvency ratios
number of employees.

Our reports enable easy comparison of the top companies in this sector against each other and against the sector median, average and standard deviation in each of the 11 fields.

Mailing list

A separate mailing list report is also available with address and contact details for the top companies in any of the segments within this sector.

Market reports

Our market reports look at the aggregated data for the top companies (by turnover) for any of the segments within this sector across all the fields usually found in a company report. The reports include data for the last 10 years* and enables easy comparison of trends for the whole sector. Reports usually include the top 100 companies but in more specialised sectors with fewer than 100 companies we show all companies with disclosed figures.

*Please note the number of companies for which data is aggregated will vary for any given year.

The market reports include sections on:

key financials and employees;
profit and loss account;
balance sheet;
cash flow statement;
financial ratios;
financial trends and changes;
profitability trends and changes.

Valuation

BVB Insights
Annual report providing the latest transaction multiples broken down by industry. Each section includes a summary of recent deals with EBITDA, average transaction size and expert analysis of current trends within each industry.

ICAEW members, ACA students and Forensic/Valuation Group subscribers can download an overview of the report with headline industry multiples. Information on individual deals can be supplied by the Library on request.

UK benchmarking

We offer benchmarking reports that can be used to inform your own business strategy or help you identify value-added services to offer to your clients.

Contact the enquiry team directly on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com for a report tailored to your own specific requirements.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Europe

Americas

Regional Association Of Oil, Gas and Biofuels Sector Companies in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARPEL)

Global

The IGU provides a listing of its charter members and associate members throughout the world, with contact details and links.

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

Further resources

Energy industry guide: British Library
British Library industry guides provide listings of resources for industry-specific information, including print directories and materials held by the British Library.

Contact the British Library Business and IP Centre for more information.