§ 3.10 p.m.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to take any steps to prevent the proliferation of company pipelines on the North Sea bed with corresponding proliferation of coastal terminals; and whether they would support the construction of common-user pipelines.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (LORD BALOGH)My Lords, questions of pipeline development are being considered as part of the current review of licensing policy. A Statement will be made to Parliament as soon as this review is complete. I can assure the noble Lord that the Government fully realise the import- 628 ance of the problems referred to in this Question.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply and desisting from throwing any more bouquets in his direction after last night, may I ask him whether there is any possibility of this matter being dealt with along with the related problems of conservation in the forthcoming Brown Book, of which he disclosed last night he had some knowledge?
§ LORD BALOGHMy Lords, I do not think the long-term problem can really be embodied in a booklet or report or Statement to Parliament which deals with the developments of the last year in regard to oil production. However, it should be possible to give some indication of how the decisions are going—perhaps not quite so quickly as the publication of the Brown Book, but at a very early date.
§ LORD POLWARTHMy Lords, will the noble Lord bear in mind the problem not only of collecting the oil but of the natural gas, which is associated with the increasing number of oil finds in the far northern waters, and the desirability of a pipeline for that purpose?
§ LORD BALOGHYes, my Lords.