§ 2.40 p.m.
§ The Earl of LAUDERDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the report from the seismic survey of the Falkland Isands area has yet been analysed, and if so whether it suggests the possible presence of hydrocarbons.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)My Lords, the data from the seismic surveys around the Falkland Islands are still being evaluated. Until that evaluation is completed I am unable to say whether it will offer the prospect of hydrocarbons being present in commercial quantities.
§ The Earl of LAUDERDALEMy Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for that reply, which does not differ very much from the one we had from Lord Strabolgi on the previous Question—namely, that consideration is at an advanced stage—may I ask the noble Lord whether he would not agree that it is unusual for a seismic survey to remain undigested very long, particularly if, as is widely reported in the trade at the present time, this is a very encouraging report? Why is it that its analysis has taken so long in this case?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I am advised that the science of seismic interpretation is such that anlaysis is a lengthy and continuous process as different techniques are applied to the data, to new information; but we expect to have an analysis of the data in the near future, although I cannot give a precise date.
§ The Earl of LAUDERDALEMy Lords, can the noble Lord go a stage further and tell the House whether there is any prospect of issuing licences for exploration?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSNo, my Lords, I could not possibly go that 492 substantial step further, although I appreciate what lies behind the supplementary question from the noble Earl. I would ask him to be patient a little longer. My right honourable friend would hope, in due course, to indicate the broad results of the analysis of the surveys which have been made available to Her Majesty's Government.
§ The Earl of LAUDERDALEMy Lords, is "due course" a matter of weeks, months or years?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I said I could not give a precise date. Even a mathematician and a geographer of the noble Earl's repute should not press his luck too far.
Lord MORRISMy Lords, bearing in mind the fact that some 70 per cent. of all NATO's strategic material and some 8 per cent. of the West's oil supplies come round the Cape of Good Hope route, are Her Majesty's Government satisfied with the current air/naval defence system along the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and the Ascension Island chain, thus protecting the great Cape routes?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, these considerations, strategic and otherwise, are very present to the mind of Her Majesty's Government.