Ministers are in talks with Norway and Qatar to enter into long-term gas contracts in a gamble that could leave consumers facing higher energy bills for years to come.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, is negotiating deals that would commit the UK to buy agreed annual quantities of gas from the two countries at a set price over the next decade or longer.
The move is backed by Liz Truss who argues that the deals would give the UK long-term security of supply and bring down the short-term cost of the government’s energy bailout.
However, the plan is opposed by senior figures in the Treasury who have warned that it could lock the UK into long-term higher prices and prove a “costly mistake” if the
