HC Deb 25 May 2000 vol 350 c595W
Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 3 April 2000,Official Report, column 325W, if he will list the companies and sites in the United Kingdom that manufactured methyl tertiary butyl ether in 1999. [123453]

Mrs. Liddell

One company, TotalFina Great Britain Ltd., manufactured methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in the UK in 1999, at Lindsay Oil Refinery, South Killingholme, Humberside.

Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 3 April 2000,Official Report, column 325W, what large-scale manufacturing processes in the United Kingdom other than in the petroleum industry include the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether. [123449]

Mrs. Liddell

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is used in small amounts by the oil refining industry, with the average concentration of MTBE in UK petrol about 1 per cent., well below that permitted under EU law. The chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries also use MTBE in small amounts.