§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give details of the quarterly purchases of oil companies in connection with North Sea oil, as returned to him, showing the percentages of purchases from indigenous British firms.
§ Mr. Anthony GrantThe returns so far provided by the oil companies have not been complete and officials are still in discussion with the companies. It176W would therefore be misleading to attempt to provide details but overall the returns show that about half, by value, of the orders are being placed with United Kingdom registered companies.