§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Power if he will state the cost per therm of town gas actually produced by existing Lurgi plants in the United Kingdom; and what he estimates will be the trend of costs in the event of the installation of each of the several variants of the Lurgi process in the United Kingdom being authorised by him.
§ Mr. WoodThe works cost of gas produced at the Westfield Works of the Scottish Gas Board in January, 1963, was given in a recent publication as 1059 pence a therm. According to estimates given in 1961 to the Select Committee, the Lurgi plant which the West Midlands Gas Board is installing at Coleshill would provide gas at a cost of 11.25 pence a therm. As regards the last part of the Question I prefer to await the report of the Joint Study referred to in my hon. Friend's previous Question.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Minister of Power if he will state on the basis of the most recent information available the comparative cost of producing town gas from the gasification of small coals and from the cracking or otherwise processing petroleum fractions.
§ Mr. WoodInformation given to the Select Committee in 1961 about the net cost of gas made from petroleum by three different processes then in use showed that it varied from just under 9d. to about 10d. a therm. The costs of processes now available appear to be lower. As regards the cost of producing gas from small coals, I should prefer to await the Report of the Joint Study referred to in my hon. Friend's first Question.