§ 1. Mr. Wyattasked the Minister of Power, in view of the fact that fuel oil imports for the first two months of 1960 were nearly double those for the first two months of 1959, what measures he proposes to take to reduce this, in view of the danger it causes to the coal industry and to the balance of payments.
§ The Minister of Power (Mr. Richard Wood)None, Sir. In this period home refining, the main source of our fuel oil, showed an increase over the previous year, fuel oil exports and bunkers were also up, and there are signs of a recovery in the demand for coal.
§ Mr. WyattYes, Sir, but as the exports were only up by 50 million gallons and the imports were up by 170 million gallons, the exports are far more than accounted for by the increased imports, and as for the first time now we are importing net more fuel oil than we are exporting, surely the Minister should do something about it?
§ Mr. WoodI think it is too short a time to be able to form any conclusion on broad grounds. In fact, the imports in this period exceed exports and bunkers by a very small proportion of inland deliveries. I intend to keep a watch on the position, but I cannot agree that this would be the time to take any action to curb imports, particularly in view of the coal situation, to which I have drawn the attention of the hon. Gentleman.