§ Mr. CohenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if the fee paid by Canuk Exploration Ltd. for the exploration licence covering the Windsor area will correlate to the proceeds of any oil discovery; and if he will make a statement. [20042]
§ Mr. PageApplication fees and rental payments for all petroleum licences are not related to future proceeds from any oil discovery but are charged on a standard basis. All third round licensees, including Canuk Exploration Ltd., paid a standard application fee of £1,000 and a non-recurrent rental of £75 per square kilometre when it was awarded exploration licences. The rental paid by Canuk amounted to £7,500. Licensees wishing to develop any discoveries would need first to apply for an appraisal licence, which currently attracts a non-recurrent rental of £75 per square kilometre, and then a development licence, for which the charge is £1,500 per square kilometre per year. Licence fees and rentals are agreed with the Treasury prior to each licensing round and are currently being reviewed. I hope to announce the new rental structure shortly.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria are used to access the adequacy of the financial and technical resources of applicants applying for oil exploration licences. [20043]
§ Mr. PageBefore awarding an onshore exploration licence, my officials make the necessary checks to ensure that applicants have sufficient technical resources to perform their proposed work programmes and have access to the funding required to enable these to be carried out.