§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Minister of Power to what extent, and at what cost in foreign exchange, the Gas Council will now have to import steel pipes for the piping of North Sea gas; and what steps he intends to take to expedite home production.
§ Mr. MarshNext year the Gas Council will need to import some large
252Wthese finds is required to assess their full significance and I cannot estimate the possible daily output.
The information is as follows:
diameter high tensile steel pipe for which United Kingdom capacity is at present limited. It is too early to say what the cost in foreign exchange will be. The Iron and Steel board, at my request, have been reviewing the future position and while requirements cannot yet be estimated with certainty, expansion of capacity already in hand will enable substantially more pipe to be provided from the United Kingdom in future.