HC Deb 16 July 1973 vol 860 cc19-20W
Mr. Douglas

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the companies which obtained blocks in both the auction and discretionary part of the fourth round of licences for North Sea oil and gas, indicating the block numbers and the sums paid;

(2) if he will list the companies which were allocated blocks in the discretionary

Company or Group Blocks Sums Paid £
Conoco/NCB Group 48/15*, 48/20b, 48/24b, 48/25b, 49/6b, 49/11b, 49/12b, 49/13. 475,150
BGC/Amoco Group 30/22*, 47/15, 48/11b, 53/3 1,091,577
Conoco/NCB/Gulf Group 3/2, 9/21, 15/14, 15/19, 16/6, 29/19, 30/28*, 102/25†, 102/29†, 210/3, 211/28. 1,609,771
Hamilton Group 9/8, 9/28, 9/29, 15/24*, 205/24†, 210/14 720,640
Phillips/Fina Group 16/17, 16/27*, 20/4, 30/27 677,590
Shell/Esso Group 3/12, 15/18, 15/25, 22/22b, 22/23b, 22/26b, 29/1, 39/12, 39/17, 49/9, 49/14b, 210/20 210/25 211/13, 211/14, 211/16. 211/21*, 211/23, 211/26. 21,194,185
Texaco North Sea (U.K.) Ltd. 13/22, 14/20, 15/7, 15/16, 15/23*, 20/5, 103/6†, 207/1†. 1,208,696
Total/Pict Group 3/1, 3/6, 3/18*, 3/19, 211/17* 147,522
Total/Elf Group 14/30*, 16/22, 29/30 963,064
* Auction block.
† Block not in North Sea.

Mr. Douglas

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many tons of oil at current prices f.o.b. would have to be produced from block 211/21 to produce royalties equivalent to the sum which Shell/Esso paid for their block in the fourth round of North Sea licences;

(2) how many tons of oil at current prices f.o.b. would have to be produced from the four blocks surrounding 211/21 allocated to Shell/Esso in the fourth round of North Sea licences to produce royalties equivalent to the initial consideration for these blocks.

Mr. Tom Boardman

Based on an estimated well-head value of a typical North Sea crude oil, the production would have to be about 20 million tons from block 211/21 and 35,000 tons from the four other blocks referred to.

Mr. Douglas

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultation he has had with interested parties regarding the regime to be adopted in the next round of licences for the United Kingdom sector of the Continental Shelf.

part of the fourth round of licences; and which also obtained blocks in the auction part of this round.

Mr. Tom Boardman

Lists of companies awarded licences under both systems of licensing are available for reference in the Library. The following companies or groups of companies were awarded blocks under both the discretionary and auction systems in the fourth round of licensing.

Mr. Tom Boardman

Future licensing policy is currently under consideration by the Government. Consultation is with other Departments.