§ 70. Dr. Brayasked the Minister of Power whether he will take steps to ensure that subsidiaries of overseas oil companies operating in Great Britain are not overcharged for crude oil supplied by their parent companies, in view of the facts that the average cost, insurance and freight price of Libyan crude oil landed in the United Kingdom was $2.57 per barrel in 1964, while Italy received Libyan crude oil at $1.97 per barrel, that the difference in prices free on board Libya to the United Kingdom and Italy is over 20 per cent., that there is only one dominant oil company in this traffic and that the potential drain on the balance of payments is over £50 million per year.
§ Mr. Frederick LeeI cannot agree with all the figures and implications in my hon. Friend's Question. I am, however, keeping a watch on relative import prices here and elsewhere and on the overall effect on our balance of payments. There432W have been some recent reductions in the prices of crude oil imports into this country reflecting the discount adopted in the recent settlement between the oil companies and petroleum exporting countries.