§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Energy what percentage of the United Kingdom's current import bill is represented by retained oil imports.
§ Mr. GrayThe United Kingdom's oil import bill in 1980 was £6.1 billion, of which £4.3 billion was crude oil and £1.8 billion was oil products. Together they represent about 12 per cent. of the United Kingdom's total bill for imported goods.
Crude oil imports valued at £19 million were re-exported directly, and the rest was retained for refining in the United Kingdom. The products derived from refining imported crude oil cannot be differentiated from products derived from refining indigenous crude oil, so it cannot be known how much imported crude oil is re-exported as product. If it is assumed that the mix of indigenous and imported oil in product exports is the same as the mix in refinery throughput, then the value of imported crude re-exported as product would have been about £750 million in 1980.
On this basis, the value of imported oil retained and consumed in the United Kingdom in 1980 may have been in the region of 10 to 11 per cent. of the United Kingdom's total bill for imported goods. Since United Kingdom refiners have considerable flexibility in the mix of crudes they refine, the percentage may vary for this and other reasons from one year to another.