HL Deb 19 June 1972 vol 332 cc2-3
LORD KENNET

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what area of the North Sea will be taken up by the oil extraction and storage platforms (with their contiguous safety zones) which have already been approved by the Governments of the Continental Shelf.

LORD DRUMALBYN

My Lords, no oil production or storage platforms have been located so far on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, but there are 16 designated safety zones for gas production occupying a total area of about 12 square kilometres. The control of activities in other sectors of the Continental Shelf is a matter for the Governments concerned.

LORD KENNET

My Lords, in the case of these numerous installations do the British Government co-ordinate with other Governments around the North Sea as to the standards to be applied in regard to pollution, the safety of installations and the safety of ships passing them? Are there navigational signs and marks on the installations for the help of passing ships? Are they all homogenised and uniform?

LORD DRUMALBYN

My Lords, I am not in a position to answer that question with certainty, but I should have thought that the signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Continental Shelf were likely to co-ordinate their policies in matters of this description. I will, if I may, write to the noble Lord and give him the full information.

LORD KENNET

My Lords, would the noble Lord, Lord Drumalbyn, press his right honourable friend to ensure that likelihood is carried over into actuality?

LORD DRUMALBYN

My Lords, this may be so already, but I did not want to be positive about it until I was quite sure.

LORD SLATER

My Lords, can the noble Lord, Lord Drumalbyn, say whether, in the geological survey for oil in this country, the Government have ever considered the strata in certain inland mines instead of going out into the middle of the sea? Have they gone down the mine shafts to the lowest seam it is possible to work to see whether there are any oil indications there?

LORD DRUMALBYN

I shall be very glad to take up the interesting point which the noble Lord, Lord Slater, has raised. The allocation of areas is done under existing law in a general way on the basis of previous explorations. I imagine that such explorations have been done and that the areas will already have been allocated. But I will look into the matter.