HC Deb 15 December 1976 vol 922 cc713-5W
Mrs. Winifred Ewing

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the EEC Commission's request that member States give more detailed advance information of their investment plans in the energy sector; and under what headings the detailed information is required.

Mr. Benn

Member States already provide certain information about forward investment plans in the energy sector under Regulation 1056/72. Resulting from proposals I made at the June 1975 Energy Council, member States agreed to provide the EEC Commission with information on their national energy objectives and energy investment programmes. Co-ordinated estimates of these are contained in EEC Documents R/210/76 COM(76)9 and R/2275/76, both of which have been deposited in Parliament. Since then, member States have agreed that a review of national energy investment programmes should be made each year. For this purpose, information will be given to the Commission on projected annual expenditure of investments for the production, marketing and distribution of the different energy sources, for the period 1977–1990. These arrangements are for information only and do not involve any loss of national control over the programme in question.

Mr. David Price

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the total amount of capital so far committed to developing the oil and natural gas resources of the British section of the North Sea; how much has been privately financed; how much has been publicly financed; and what percentage of each has come from British and foreign sources, respectively.

Dr. J. Dickson Mabon

In the period 1965 to 1975 the gross fixed capital formation associated with the development of the United Kingdom oil and natural gas resources is estimated to have been slightly under £3 billion. A survey of operators conducted earlier this year by the Process Plant Working Party of the National Economic Development Office in conjunction with my Department indicated that between 1976 and 1980 a further £4 billion, in last quarter 1975 prices, would be required to complete the development of those finds already announced as commercial and for which plans had been approved.

The share of the capital expenditure borne by the public corporations involved in the development of these resources is estimated to have been about 5½ per cent. to the end of 1975. On the basis of the current arrangements their share of forecast total capital expenditure up to 1980 may be of the order of 8 per cent. Because many of the financing arrangements are conducted on a corporate basis in both the public and private sectors it is not practical to estimate reliably the proportions of the capital expenditure that are attributable to British and foreign sources. Exchange control regulations normally require non-resident controlled licences to finance from external sources at least 70 per cent. of their fixed assets. EEC and Overseas Sterling Area owned companies are exempted from this requirement.