What was happening in Britain was that the UK gas reserve base and production volumes had been going down. "We are going to have to import gas and there will be upward pressure on prices," Mr Chapman said. BG said that by 2015 there would be a need to import as much gas - 100bn cubic metres a year - as Britain was consuming in total today. The company was working to offset any supply shortages both by investing in its Dragon LNG plant in south Wales and by continuing to apply for new exploration licences in the North Sea. BG has plenty of cash for investing in new projects including an expected $1.5bn (£800m) from the disposal of its stake in the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea. Ashley Almanza, BG's financial director, insisted the company would not go on an acquisition spree, saying it had plenty of organic growth prospects to work on.