§ 2.36 p.m.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy 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 agreements which may be signed between petroleum companies in this country concerning the conveyance of their products by pipe-line could come within the ambit of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1956, should such agreements tend to produce a quasi-monopoly situation in certain areas; and whether Her Majesty's Government will give an assurance that while considering an application on its merits for a "pipeline construction authorisation" they will safeguard the common carrier principle.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, BOARD OF TRADE (LORD DERWENT)My Lords, I am advised that the Answer to the first part of my noble friend's Question is that an agreement between petroleum companies in this country which was concerned solely with the service of conveying their products by pipe-line would not come within the ambit of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1956. My right honourable friend the Minister of Power has, however, certain powers under the Pipe-lines Act, 1962, to require the owner of a pipe-line to make it available on fair terms to other users. This does not mean that the owners of such pipe-lines would be common carriers in the strict legal sense, but I can assure my noble friend that my right honourable friend the Minister of Power will consider all applications on their merits, with full regard to the need for safeguards against possible abuse.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend for his Answer, I should like to be permitted to ask him two supplementary questions. Would he bear in mind the interests of the consumers when applications are considered—for instance, in the case of the petro-chemical industry—so that in the future their requirements as well may be fully met? I refer to the delivery end of the pipe-line where there is a question of supply. Also, would he be so kind as to give an assurance that an application from an oil marketing consortium will be carefully scrutinised to see whether, if approved, it would tend to produce a quasi-monopoly of the market in a specific area, which would, in my humble opinion, tend to nullify to a very large degree the provisions of Section 10 of the Pipe-lines Act?
§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, if I have the supplementary questions aright, I think they can be dealt with in one answer. I think the real point with which my noble friend is dealing is this. The Restrictive Trade Practices Act is concerned with practices affecting the supply of goods. It is not concerned with services such as the transport of oil by pipe-line, and an agreement which covered more than service—for example, by including provisions about the terms on which oil going through a pipe-line should be supplied to the consumers— may well be registrable under the Act.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend, I should like to get guidance from him as to what the situation would be if, in a certain area, a number of oil marketing companies were to reach an agreement for the conveyance of their products embracing the whole of the marketable petroleum products of that area. Would that not constitute a quasi-monopoly situation?
§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, I do not think I am really in a position to answer a purely hypothetical question. When requests are made to the Minister for permission to construct a pipe-line, he can make certain conditions under the Pipe-lines Act. But I am afraid that nobody can answer at this moment purely hypothetical questions such as that put by my noble friend.