§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary for Mines (1) whether he will state the names of those companies by whose agreement the Petroleum Board was formed;
(2) the names of the members of the Petroleum Board?
§ Mr. LloydThe Petroleum Board was formed originally by agreement between the Anglo-American Oil Company, Limited, National Benzole Company, Limited, Shell-Mex and B.P., Limited and Trinidad Leaseholds, Limited and582W their Associated Companies. The membership has since been enlarged and now represents substantially the whole of the Petroleum Industry so far as it relates to the importation, storage and distribution of oil products.
Following are the names of the members of the board.
- Sir Andrew Agnew, C.B.E. (Chairman).
- Mr. R. Beaumont.
- Sir William Fraser, C.B.E.
- Mr. F. Godber.
- Mr. F. L. Halford.
- Mr. A. Hittinger.
- Mr. A. J. Singleton.
- Mr. E. E. Soubry.
- Mr. F. J. Wolfe.
- Secretary—Mr. H. E. Snow.
§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary for Mines to what organisations or persons licences to sell petroleum or petroleum products have been granted under the Petroleum (No. 2) Order, 1939; and how many applications have been declined?
§ Mr. LloydUp to the present licences have been issued to 89 applicants. Others will shortly be issued. In view of the large numbers involved, the hon. Member will I think agree that it would be inappropriate to publish the lists in the OFFICIAL REPORT. No applications have so far been declined.
Mr. Montaģueasked the Secretary for Mines whether divisional petroleum officers are permanent civil servants; what salaries are they paid; and what qualifications are they required to possess?
§ Mr. LloydNone of the divisional petroleum officers are serving civil servants. Two are retired civil servants and nine of the others are retired Colonial civil servants. All the officers were selected in peace-time on evidence of their ability to discharge the duties required of them in war, and their salaries range from £500 to £800.