Gas supplies to the UK will be “less tight” than expected this winter, holding out the prospect of lower gas prices for businesses and households, the chairman of energy regulator Ofgem said on Wednesday.

Sir John Mogg told the Financial Times that he was “much more confident” that the UK would have adequate gas supplies during the coming winter, because pipeline projects that will bring gas to the UK from Norway and the Netherlands were on schedule to start operating later this year.