§ 89. Sir C. Osborneasked the Minister of Power, in view of the fact that natural gas is being imported at 6¼d. per therm, what is the average price for producing comparable gas in this country; what steps he is taking to bring these two prices closer together; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. LeeAlgerian methane, after transmission to the boards and conversion into town gas, is estimated to cost about 8½d. per therm ex-works which compares with about 13d. over all gas supplies. Allowing for gas quality the true difference is about 5d. per therm. The average delivered cost of all gas is about 22d. a therm. The industry's development programme is directed to reducing the average cost of gas by the introduction of new processes and raw materials and by the continuing modernisation of all aspects of gas supply.