§ 7. Mr. IrvineTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the projected level of demand for oil in the United Kingdom over the next five years; and what proportion of this will be met by output from United Kingdom oifields.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe demand for oil in the United Kingdom is expected to remain fairly constant during the next few years. On current estimates of production, the United Kingdom is likely to remain self-sufficient well into the 1990s.
§ Mr. IrvineDoes my hon. Friend agree that the fact that the United Kingdom is likely to remain self-sufficient in oil well into the 1990s is a considerable tribute to the oil exploration companies operating in the North sea? Does he further agree that it underlines the importance of maintaining a favourable tax regime which provides, and will provide, positive encouragement to oil exploration?
§ Mr. SkinnerThe hon. Gentleman means subsidies.
§ Mr. MorrisonI certainly agree with what my hon. Friend said. What the oil companies have achieved in the North sea, both in exploration and development, has been outstanding — and, indeed, unsung up and down the land.
As for the regime in which the companies operate, it is the economic climate, the tax climate and the entrepreneurial climate that the Government have promoted that have ensured that further exploration and development go ahead.
§ Mr. RowlandsHave not Ministers repeatedly praised the role of the British independent oil companies in the development of the North sea, and especially the role of Britoil? If that is so, will the hon. Gentleman now seek an urgent meeting with the chairman of BP to make it clear that the Government do not believe in the destruction of the integrity of Britoil as a company, and that if BP pursues the matter it will forfeit much of the co-operation that it receives from the Department of Energy?
§ Mr. MorrisonMany companies — including, of course, Britoil — have made a major contribution to North sea development.
The answer to the hon. Gentleman's point is that my right hon. Friend has made quite clear what the Government's position is in reflecting what my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said.
§ Mr. SalmondIs the Minister aware of the assurances given to the House on 31 March and 1 April 1982 about Britoil's independence by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Gray, then Minister of State, Department of Energy? Does he recognise that those assurances contained the statement that the golden share would be part of
effective safeguards for Britoil's independence"?—[Official Report, 1 April 1982; Vol. 21, c. 450.Does the hon. Gentleman accept that in present circumstances it hardly looks as though those assurances are being carried through? Does he therefore accept that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the noble Lord misled the House as to the efficacy of the golden share when they were looking for support for the privatisation of BNOC in 1982?
§ Mr. MorrisonI do not accept the hon. Gentleman's statement that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer misled the House when he was Secretary of State for Energy. My right hon. Friend explained his position, clearly to the Shadow Chancellor — in the present circumstances he reserves the right to use the special share.