§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Secretary of State for Energy what assumptions he made about the level of world oil prices in 1980 for the purpose of drawing up his policy statement on North Sea oil; and at what level of world prices it would become necessary to subsidise production from Exchequer resources to render it worth while.
§ Mr. VarleyThe Government's review of policy for offshore oil took account of various projections of world crude oil 33W prices. The figure mentioned in the recent report to Parliament of £4,000 million pre-tax profits in 1980 was based on my Department's latest calculation of the present price of equivalent imported crude oil in this country. The level of world oil prices has different effects on the economics of different fields; there is no one price at which all production becomes uneconomic.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what are the Government's plans for the disposal of participation crude;
(2) what restrictions on the disposal of company crude oil are envisaged in his newly announced energy policy.
§ Mr. VarleyIt is not possible to say at this stage what future arrangements will be for the disposal of the shares of North Sea crude oil accruing to the British National Oil Corporation and to the private sector oil companies.