HL Deb 19 July 1991 vol 531 cc360-3

11.10 a.m.

Lord Mowbray and Stourton

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In asking this Question, I declare an interest in so far as I am a member of a company which has a slight connection with one of the groups which could be involved in this matter. The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any United Kingdom companies are involved in the capping of oil wells and extinguishing of fires in Kuwait; and if not, whether they will take action to ensure that they are.

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, the Kuwait British Fire Group has completed an assessment of the Sabriyah oil field which includes damage reports on some 90 wells. That report is now being considered by the Kuwait Oil Company. It is hoped this will lead to a second-phase contract for the Kuwait British Fire Group to put out the fires, repair the wells and restore the field to its pre-war condition. To this end, a follow-up commercial proposal to carry out the recommendations of that report has now also been put to the Kuwait Oil Company. Further British companies are involved in these proposals as specialist sub-contractors.

Lord Mowbray and Stourton

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. That is satisfactory so far as it goes in that British companies are being allowed to join in this situation. However, does not my noble friend find the whole matter somewhat akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burns? We are talking about an ecological disaster on an enormous scale. Is my noble friend aware that the Americans, and the Kuwaitis under American advice, have heavily lent on companies that use old-fashioned, conventional methods which are slow and expensive? Some British companies have developed new tunnelling techniques which have been approved by the Department of Energy and the Offshore Supplies Office. Those techniques have even been recognised as safe by the Santa Fe KPC. Could those companies not be given a chance to enter this process to speed it up and to carry out the job far cheaper than is the case at present?

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, I should tell my noble friend that the department does not give approval. It promotes ideas which it thinks are good, but is not in a position to give approval. We are not aware of any direct evidence of the Americans trying to squeeze out old technology. The House should also recognise that, given the difficulties faced by Kuwait, pioneering new ideas is not easy. By way of amplification of that point, although the returns available to the DTI do not allow us to separate orders in the oil and gas sector from other orders, the latest figures from DTI are that 59 UK companies are known to have received orders worth £370 million for work of all kinds associated with the general reconstruction of Kuwait. Our best estimate is that upwards of £200 million of that business relates to oil and gas. We are encouraged by British involvement in reconstruction.

Lord Mellish

My Lords, while I understand the need for British firms to help in the oil fields in Kuwait, is the Minister aware—and I hope that this is relevant to the Question—that the Kuwaitis themselves have estimated that at least £22 billion is required to repair some of the damage which Saddam Hussein and his terrorists inflicted? I ask this straight question: who is going to find the £22 billion, and when?

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, the noble Lord has asked related questions previously. I have seen that assessment. Compensation is a matter for the United Nations.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, is it true that the work of putting out the fires is being delayed by the need first to remove the many land-mines laid by the Iraqi army? If so, can more be done to clear the mines?

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, my noble friend is right. That is a difficulty. The latest report from Royal Ordnance indicates that it is ahead of schedule in its ordnance clearing contract. It has restored safe access to about 200 wellheads and also some gathering stations, water lagoons and pipelines. The contract commenced on 9th May and is to last 10 months. Operations involve nine oilfields and also include areas of Kuwaiti infrastructure not directly connected with the oil industry.

Lord Mackie of Benshie

My Lords, can the Minister give the House some idea of the progress being made in putting out the fires, and how long it will be before they are finally put out? At the same time, I have no doubt that he has knowledge of the damage done to the environment.

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, I cannot supply an estimate of when the fires will be put out. The latest estimates are that an overall total of 732 wells were damaged, of which 648 are on fire; 196 of the burning oil wells have been capped to date. The few blow-out control companies are all North American. Each depends on a handful of highly experienced personnel. They normally tackle only a small number of fires worldwide each year and never more than two at a time. Moreover, in those cases they can rely on the logistical support of the oil companies concerned. This is a different and new situation, and that is the scale of the problem.

Lord Peston

My Lords, in considering the important Question of the noble Lord, Lord Mowbray, is the noble Lord aware that estimates vary to an extraordinary degree. They range from the suggestion that it will all be over within a year, to the possibility that it will take five years. The first seems hopelessly optimistic, and the second dreadfully pessimistic. Can the noble Lord say any more on that point, bearing in mind that the whole situation seems to be an organisational mess? No one seems to be fully in command and the fire-fighters are having great difficulties simply getting enough equipment to bear on the problem, quite apart from the problem of mines. It is a serious matter. Is there anything that Her Majesty's Government can do to speed things up and make the whole operation more professional?

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, I have to acknowledge that after a conflict of this kind, the organisation is not everything that one would wish. Noble Lords should understand that every fire and every well represents a different problem and needs individual management. I can assure the noble Lord that we are doing everything that we can, but ultimately it must be for Kuwait to make the final decisions.

Lord Mowbray and Stourton

My Lords, as the British Government, like the rest of the world, have a great interest in seeing that the ecology of the area is cleaned up as quickly as possible, will my noble friend please ask his friends in the Government whether the British Government cannot give British companies the chance to try out some of the new technology? If ever there was an occasion for trying out new technology, which our own department and the Santa Fe KPC have approved as safe and possibly effective, is this not an example of an instance where help should be given and for the new technology to be proven? If it proved effective, it would cut down the time factor enormously and reduce the horrible filth and dirt in the air.

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, however unpleasant the fires are, I should qualify my noble friend's statement of an ecological disaster. We maintain that it is not an ecological disaster, even though it has severe effects on the immediate area.

More than 250 ideas have found their way to the OSO, and the potential value of most of those innovative ideas has been difficult to assess. It seems unlikely that any will be taken up by UK companies involved in the fire-fighting exercise. OSO has given the progenitors of those ideas contacts in UK companies where appropriate or they have been advised to deal with the Kuwaiti authorities directly. We give encouragement where we can.

Lord Mackie of Benshie

My Lords, do I understand the Minister to say that fewer than a third of the fires have been put out? Does that mean that the remainder are the most difficult? Is that not an enormously serious situation?

Lord Cavendish of Furness

My Lords, the figures are correct. Initially, the House was informed that some fires had to be re-ignited. That has stopped. Fires are being put out; there is progress, and there is a modest oil production once again.