§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the reserves of oil in the British sector of the North Sea which can be recovered at an economic cost by means of existing technology; and how long he expects these reserves to provide the United Kingdom with independence from imported oil.
§ Mr. John SmithTotal recoverable reserves in presently designated areas of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf are estimated at 3,000 million tons to 4,500 million tons. These reserves should enable us to achieve independence from net import in 1980 and for several years thereafter.