§ Mr. Alisonasked the Minister of Power if he proposes to intervene in the negotiations now taking place between the Gas Council and Shell and Esso for the sale of North Sea natural gas.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Minister of Power what is the quantity of North Sea gas under discussion between the Gas Council and Shell-Esso.
§ Mr. MarshThis is a matter for the parties concerned in the first instance but any quantities discussed can only be provisional at this stage.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Minister of Power (1) if he will provide an estimate, expressed in pence per therm, of the operating cost, exclusive of all capital charges, of producing and delivering on shore North Sea gas at the rate of 1,000 million cubic feet daily from a single structure;
(2) if he will provide an estimate, expressed in pence per therm of the capital 355W cost, including a return, net of tax, of 15 per cent. of producing and delivering on shore 1,000 million cubic feet of gas daily from a single structure over a period of 20 years;
(3) if he will give an estimate of the total capital investment required by British Petroleum to find and produce the North Sea gas now under contract for supply to the Gas Council at 5d. per them, and of the length of time required to recover this investment, assuming 100 million cubic feet of gas a day is available during the contract period.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Minister of Power whether he has reached any conclusion on pricing policy for North Sea gas; and whether he has yet communicated his views to the interested parties.
§ Mr. MarshThe negotiations in relation to the price paid for North Sea gas are between the Gas Council and the licensee. I am of course deeply interested in the pricing of natural gas because of its bearing on overall fuel policy and the economy as a whole; and this is well-known to the interested parties. But too little is known about the size of the North Sea gas deposits and the costs of exploration and extraction to reach any conclusions yet awhile.