§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, in view of a number of recent discoveries in the North Sea, he will revise the Government's estimate of the ultimate potential of the area from one million barrels per day of crude oil to three million barrels per day; and whether he is prepared to give a new estimate of the recoverable reserves of natural gas locatable on the British section of the Continental Shelf.
§ Mr. RidleyNo official estimate of crude oil reserves in the North Sea has yet been made: indeed, this will not be possible until recent discoveries have been appraised and considerable further exploratory78W drilling has taken place. The latest estimate of recoverable reserves of gas is put at about 32 trillion (32×1012) cubic feet.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will authorise the Central Electricity Generating Board to purchase supplies of natural gas direct from the Phillips Company in the Norweigan sector of the Continental Shelf or from any other foreign supplier for the purposes of power generation in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. RidleyNo authorisation is needed to import such gas, but proposals from C.E.G.B. to use more gas in power stations would have to be considered on their merits.