Offshore Platforms (Hansard, 13 May 1991)

§ 7. Mr. Anthony Coombs
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of the number of new projects being started in United Kingdom yards for the construction of offshore platforms.

§ Mr. Moynihan
At the present time United Kingdom construction yards have orders valued at £1.6 billion arising from 18 field development projects.

§ Mr. Coombs
Will my hon. Friend confirm not only that last year's figure of £6.2 billion for goods and services from North sea oil is a record but that no less than £4.8 billion of that sum was provided by British manufacturing and other British companies? Does he agree that that is a tribute to the vitality of the North sea oil industry and to the efficiency and competitiveness of British industry?

§ Mr. Moynihan
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I simply add that that £6.2 billion represented an increase of more than 50 per cent. on the 1989 figure.

§ Dr. Godman
May I remind the Minister that the Scott Lithgow offshore fabrication yard, which is located in my constituency, is one of the finest of its sort in Scotland? Why are the Minister, his officials and the officials at the offshore supplies office so massively indifferent to the needs of that yard and the labour force in the locality, where the unemployment rate is about 13.5 per cent? Why are the Minister and his officials refusing to assist Scott Lithgow to acquire orders from the North sea oil and gas industries?

§ Mr. Moynihan
I refute and reject the hon. Gentleman's allegations. The parent company, Trafalgar House, is considering subcontracting work to the yard. I know that Scott Lithgow is actively seeking work. In doing so, it recognises that it is not just a matter of matching orders with yards; it is up to fabricators to decide which orders to bid for and then to be competitive. I am fully aware of the position in the hon. Gentleman's constituency and of the management's determination to seek orders and match them to its capability at the yard.

§ Sir Anthony Durant
Do not the figures given in answer to this question and the previous one dispel the doom and gloom that was spread some time ago about our running out of oil and gas in the North sea?

§ Mr. Moynihan
They do. Even better news comes from considering the beginning of the cycle. Last year we had another record for exploration and appraisal wells with 224 sites, beating the previous high of 190 in 1984. The prospects for the North sea are good. We can expect future work for United Kingdom fabricators and suppliers and substantial further production of oil and gas well into the next century.