Bacton gas terminal: £300m spent on upgrading plant

About a third of Britain's energy needs are met using gas from the Bacton terminal

The energy giant Shell is to increase the amount of gas processed at a Norfolk terminal by 16% - securing its future for "decades to come".

The firm has spent £300m updating the plant at Bacton to allow 400 million cubic feet (11bn litres) of gas to be processed a day.

"This means we can use the facilities more and reduce operating costs," Anne O'Halloran, from Shell, said.

This firm is also drilling more wells in the Southern North Sea gas field.

The extra capacity at the plant enables Shell to take gas from the Spirit Energy-owned Clipper South field, which is about 45 miles (70km) off the coast from Bacton.

Processing at Bacton, on the coast near North Walsham, began in 1968 after Shell discovered one of the largest gas fields in the Southern North Sea.

About a third of Britain's gas energy needs are supplied from the plant.

Manager Belinda Ikazoboh said Shell had invested the money to upgrade and extend the life of the plant so that it could supply Britain's energy needs "for decades to come".