UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has ditched his predecessor's plan to intervene in global energy markets by spending billions of pounds on foreign gas imports, it emerged at the weekend.
Sky News says that Liz Truss's energy-supply taskforce (EST), which was launched in September, is being scrapped.
Headed by Madelaine McTernan, who was director-general of the government's Covid vaccine taskforce, the initiative was set up to strike long-term deals aimed at bolstering Britain's domestic energy security.
It came after the turmoil in energy markets triggered by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine sparked record prices for UK consumers, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis.
Industry sources said at the weekend that locking taxpayers into long-term contracts potentially lasting up to 20 years at current high prices had been rejected by Mr Sunak's team.
In a statement three months ago, Ms Truss's administration had said the EST had "begun negotiations with domestic and international suppliers to agree long-term contracts that reduce the price they charge for energy and increase the security of (UK) supply".
Flagship reform
Ms Truss's aides described it at the time as a flagship reform which underlined her determination to get a grip on Britain's energy crisis.
In mid-October, Sky News revealed that Whitehall officials were in talks with US-based companies, including Cheniere and Venture Global - both big players in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
One insider said the government had been in discussions with "a broad range" of potential suppliers.
Ms Truss's ill-fated premiership ended just weeks later, however, prompting a review by her successor of her plan to intervene in energy markets.
Responding at the weekend to an inquiry from Sky News, a government spokesman said: "We have concluded that direct purchases of gas are not the best intervention in the market."
A Whitehall source said on Saturday: "Winding down the taskforce is the right decision - while it was sensible in September for the previous administration to explore these contracts, locking-in long term contracts while gas prices are this high just doesn't make sense.
Options
"It was also only ever just one option on the table - there's a whole range of other actions we're taking now to boost the UK's energy resilience, including a new £1billion energy-efficiency scheme, financial backing for Sizewell C and reintroducing the Energy Security Bill to parliament."
Earlier this month, Mr Sunak and US President Joe Biden unveiled the UK-US Energy Security and Affordability Partnership - an initiative that both governments said would focus on reducing dependence on Russian energy exports.
But Sky News says the decision not to press ahead with Ms Truss's plan will raise renewed questions about the country's long-term energy security.
British imports of LNG accounted for 17% of the gas supplied to the UK through production and imports last year, according to data published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The government has also acknowledged in recent months that it has been seeking long-term deals with foreign states understood to include Norway and Qatar - sparking concerns that Britain would pay a "security premium" in exchange for guaranteed supplies.
FTSE 100
The UK's top share index, the FTSE 100, was up 16 points at 7,348 shortly after opening this morning, following Friday's 94-point loss when hopes of a Santa rally faded on both sides of the Atlantic.
Brent crude futures fell back below the $80-a-barrel mark at the end of last week, but were up 0.42% at $79.37 a barrel earlier today.
There are no FTSE 350 companies due to report today.