§ Lord KENNETasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the United Kingdom is in certain circumstances obliged to supply oil to other countries, either under the International Energy Agency Agreement or under any Agreement within the European Community; and, if so, under what detailed provisions.
§ Lord STRABOLGIThe United Kingdom could be obliged to supply oil to other countries under the Agreement on an International Energy Programme [Treaty Series No.111 (1976, Cmnd 6697)]. Article 7.3 of the Agreement describes the circumstances in which a participating country could have an allocation obligation to supply, directly or indirectly, oil to other participating countries. The United Kingdom is a participating country for the purposes of this programme.
An obligation to share oil with other EEC countries could also arise under a Council Decision which was agreed in principle at the Energy Council on 25th October on a Community target for reducing energy consumption in the event of oil supply difficulties. The main objective of this Decision is to provide for EEC Member States to reduce energy consumption in an oil supply crisis. In addition, in a prolonged crisis those States with a relatively low dependence on oil would be expected to make proportionately greater savings, and to share the extra savings with other Member States. In such circumstances, we would expect the United Kingdom to be a small net donor.