Centrica has signed a £4.4 billion deal with Qatar to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 4½ years as Britain's import dependence reaches record levels and consumers face ever rising bills.

The owner of Britain’s biggest household energy supplier British Gas, is to buy 3 million tonnes of LNG per year, or the equivalent of about 13 per cent of Britain’s annual residential gas demand, it said.

The deal will help Britain secure its energy needs as domestic North Sea supplies dwindle, but at the same time expose the country to growing import dependence.

It extends a £2 billion, three-year LNG supply agreement between Centrica and Qatargas, the world's biggest producer of shipped gas, for 2.4 million tonnes/year, which was struck in 2011 and expires in July 2014. – (Reuters)