§ Lord LYONS of BRIGHTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they are likely to invite applications for a further round of petroleum production licensing on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of ENERGY (Lord Balogh)My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy proposes to hold a further round of offshore licensing next year, inviting applications in the early months of the year, and awarding licences later in the year. His prime objectives in holding the round will be to maintain momentum so as to ensure continued exploration and development of our Continental Shelf and a continuing market for our growing offshore supplies industry. The terms and conditions governing the licensing, which will be announced when applications are formally invited, will be designed to entrench and safeguard our legitimate national interests, including, as the Government have already declared, a provision for majority State participation in commercial finds.
House adjourned at twenty-two minutes before nine o'clock