HC Deb 30 November 1959 vol 614 c852
18. Mr. Fitch

asked the Minister of Power if he will make a statement on the possibilities of extracting oil from coal as a commercial proposition.

Mr. Wood

I cannot yet make a statement. This subject is being reviewed by the Wilson Committee.

Mr. Fitch

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this process has been carried out successfully on a commercial basis in South Africa? Is he further aware that the firm of John Brown, civil engineers, has a plant which it claims can do this process on a commercial basis? Will the right hon. Gentleman look into this?

Mr. Wood

I certainly will. I observe at the moment only that I think that the conditions to which the hon. Gentleman is drawing our attention in South Africa are very different from the conditions that would obtain here.

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