§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Energy what are the total reserves of methane and natural gas liquids now estimated to be available to the proposed gas-gathering system; and what impact this will have on the economics of the project.
§ Mr. GrayThe gas-gathering organising group's latest estimate of United Kingdom continental shelf reserves available for collection by the gas-gathering pipeline is about 11 trillion cubic feet of rich gas, which includes 66 million tonnes of NGLs, plus further reserves in fields south of Lomond for which estimates are not yet available. These figures are based on data supplied by field operators; in addition there is likely to be more gas and NGL available from areas which have not yet been appraised.
The Government's latest analysis confirms that the project is economically very attractive.