§ 3.13 p.m.
§ Lord BALOGHMy 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 what was the tonnage and the percentage of the total crude oil production exported in the month of May 1979 and the dollar value.
The Earl of GOWRIEMy Lords, our preliminary estimate is that about 3.1 million tonnes of North Sea oil was exported in May, amounting to about 49 per cent. of our disposal; that is, oil sent to refineries as against total production. The exact value of these exports is not yet available, but the Department of Energy estimates they were worth about 420 million dollars.
§ Lord BALOGHMy Lords, I appreciate the noble Earl's Answer, but does not the situation show that insufficient 1016 flexibility was built into our refineries? Will the present Government follow the previous Government's policy of encouraging this higher flexibility to be achieved by investment?
The Earl of GOWRIEMy Lords, I am all for flexibility, but, as I always have to say at the moment, these things are a matter for review.