HC Deb 27 February 1968 vol 759 c291W
46. Mr. Woof

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the cost to the United Kingdom balance of payments of transporting oil supplies round a e Cape of Good Hope, since the closure of the Suez Canal; and what estimate he has made of the effect of devaluation on that figure.

Mr. Diamond

The loss resulting from the Middle East situation as a whole was about £10 million a month in July-September, 1967; and it may have been running at some £20 million a month in October-December, 1967. Most of this loss probably arose from the cost of transporting oil round the Cape, but this cannot be separated from other increases in oil costs arising from the crisis. The recent fall in freight rates has much more than offset the effects of devaluation, and the loss is now running at a lower level than in 1967.

47. Mr. Woof

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of the measures taken to maintain stability in the oilfields in the Middle East.

Mr. Roy Jenkins

There is no direct connection between public expenditure and the maintenance of stability in the oilfields in the Middle East. It is, therefore, not possible to make an estimate of the kind requested by my hon. Friend.