Rockall: Oil/Gas Exploration Licensing (Hansard, 13 December 1994)

The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Earl Ferrers)
My Lords, the closing date for nominations for the 17th round of licensing offshore oil and gas exploration is 8th March 1995. Depending on the areas which companies nominate, decisions will be taken about which blocks to offer for licensing.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his Answer. Can he confirm that at least three other countries have made claims to Rockall? Is he aware that I was the Secretary of State who put through Parliament the 1972 Act which consolidated Rockall as part of Scotland?

Noble Lords
Hear, hear!

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, is my noble friend further aware that the United Kingdom's position was strengthened unintentionally when Mr. Tom McLean, the lone Atlantic rower, demonstrated that it was a habitable island by camping on it for four weeks although the average seagull finds it difficult to maintain a perch, leaning hard against the wind?

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, peculiarly my noble friend is not wholly accurate in his first supplementary question. Three countries have not made claim to Rockall. Ireland does not recognise UK sovereignty over Rockall, but has not made a claim. We have no doubt about the United Kingdom's sovereignty over Rockall. Iceland and the Faroes claim the seabed to the west of Rockall, which is beyond the 200 miles from St. Kilda, but they do not dispute the UK's sovereignty over Rockall itself.
A number of things happened when my noble friend was Secretary of State for Scotland, of which periodically he is kind enough to remind us, and the passing of that Act did indeed take place under his authority. I am grateful for that. As regards Mr. McLean, I can only tell my noble friend that our sovereignty over Rockall does not rest over whether it can sustain human life. Mr. McLean is a private citizen. His action of camping on Rockall did nothing to strengthen the United Kingdom's sovereignty—nor, I dare say, did it do much to strengthen the seagulls' sovereignty.

§ Lord Ewing of Kirkford
My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that I agree with him that the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, is from time to time keen to remind us of some of the things, but only some of the things, that happened when he was Secretary of State, but when I take the opportunity in your Lordships' House to remind the noble Lord of some of the other things that happened under his stewardship he is quite keen to forget them? Is that not a contradiction?
1198 Is the noble Earl aware that the 17th licensing round is an important issue especially in relation to Rockall which is a disputed territory? As I understand it, the claim of the Faroe Islands and others to the seabed around Rockall has still to be resolved. Perhaps the Minister can enlighten your Lordships on the current position of the dispute over the area. Is the noble Earl further aware that from a reading of the Cabinet minutes of 1955—nearly 40 years ago—when the United Kingdom annexed Rockall, it is clear that the UK did so for a completely different reason? It was because of the rich, fertile fishing grounds and had nothing to do with oil and gas. However, here we are, with the 17th licensing round in prospect, and for the first time there is a conflict between licensing and drilling for oil and gas and those very fertile fishing grounds. Can the Minister give the House an absolute assurance that, before any decisions are made, there will be extensive discussions with the fishing industry and the other interests involved in this important question?

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, the noble Lord chided my noble friend Lord Campbell of Croy for reminding us of some of the things that he did during his tenure of the distinguished office of Secretary of State for Scotland. The noble Lord said that he sometimes reminds my noble friend of the things that he did wrong. When the noble Lord is Secretary of State for Scotland he will be able to remind us of the things that he has done, but I doubt whether he will have that opportunity.
The noble Lord continued by saying that fisheries have nothing to do with oil and gas. He is right, the fisheries issue in relation to Rockall has nothing to do with oil and gas and does not come into this. What we are talking about is geology. The rocks on Rockall are of the same geology as the rocks of Scotland. Therefore, we claim that there is a prolongation and that the rocks in Rockall and in Scotland are of granite-gneiss, which are 2,000 million years old—if you believe that kind of thing. The Faroes rocks are basalt and they are only 60 million years old; and the Iceland rocks are lavas and are less than 30 million years old, which in time and space is merely the other day. We claim that the rock structure around Rockall is the same as that in Scotland.

§ The Earl of Lauderdale
My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that, in the Moray Firth and elsewhere on the continental shelf, differences of interest between oil, on the one hand, and fishing, on the other hand, have always been resolved satisfactorily?

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, they are usually resolved satisfactorily although periodically there are hiccups. In this instance, however, there is no correlation between the right to fisheries and the right to oil and gas exploration.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his further answer about the United Kingdom's position and the relevance of Mr. McLean's feat. However, is he aware that experts in international law have pointed out that the United Kingdom's position 1199 might be strengthened if there were to be a British wedding on the island or, better still, a birth, but that no one, however patriotic, should be encouraged to try that?

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, I am not quite sure what one concludes from that, other than the fact that anyone who tried to be married on Rockall must need their head examined, as must anyone who tried to have a baby there.