§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper, and at the same time beg to ask leave of the House to ask the Questions in the reverse order to that in which they are printed on the Order Paper because it is likely to be more convenient then to the noble Lord who is to reply and to the House.
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I wonder whether the noble Earl could tell us what he is saying? I do not think we heard.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper, but simultaneously I beg leave to ask these two Questions in the reverse order to that in which they are placed on the Order Paper so that noble Lords on both sides of the House—both those hard of hearing and otherwise—can hear the Answers in the logical order, as being more to their convenience.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government how many geophysicists, geologists, petroleum engineers and economists are employed in the Petroleum Division of the D.T.I.
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (LORD DRUMALBYN)My Lords, currently the staff of the Petroleum Divisions of the Department of Trade and Industry includes a geophysicist, a geologist, 7 petroleum engineers and 5 other specialists. Recruitment of 5 additional staff in these categories is under way. The Petroleum Divisions also have a call upon the Institute of Geological Sciences for advice and for analysis of United Kingdom Continental Shelf operations. Economists specialising in petroleum matters are located in the Economics and Statistics Divisions of the Department.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, in thanking my noble friend for that reply may I ask him whether or not he would agree that the figures he has given represent about a quarter of the number which persons experienced in the oil industry believe to be necessary, and can he tell us whether this very small body of personnel are divided into teams of a multi-disciplinary character so that they can separately concentrate on particular areas of significance, like the Shetlands Basin or the Celtic Sea Basin?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, dealing with the first supplementary question, I cannot say what other people think is necessary, but I can tell my noble friend that there has been a steady increase in the numbers to match the expansion in the production of United Kingdom offshore oil, and another increase is envisaged for next year. I think I can best answer the second part of the noble Earl's supplementary question by saying that the functions of the Inspectorate are to evaluate the results of the exploration activities: to supervise the carrying out of the work by licensees: to see that this is done in accordance with the conditions of their licences; to carry out statutory safety inspections, and to provide information and advice for administrators, Ministers and other Departments on the technical aspects of the exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources. I am sure that where it is necessary to divide them into multidisciplinary groups that will be done.
§ THE EARL or LAUDERDALEMy Lords, would my noble friend not agree that there is one glaring omission from the lists that he has enumerated; namely, the evaluation of the vast volume of seismic data which comes into the D.T.I. and which should form the basis of future policy decisions about future licensing?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, this is largely done by the Institute of Geological Sciences which gives information to the Department as and when it is called for.