§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give, for each of the past four years, the ascending cost of producing a barrel of North Sea oil; and what his estimate for new fields likely to come into production either later in the current year or next.
§ Dr. MabonIt is not possible for reasons of confidentiality to give cost figures for fields coming into production in individual years. Fields coming into production in the past four years have estimated costs of between $3 and $8 a barrel at 1976 prices. Fields expected to come into production later this year or next are estimated to have costs between $4½ and $9 29W per barrel. These figures are discounted costs of production over the life of the fields, allowing for the cost of capital used.