§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his most up-to-date estimate of the total oil revenues available to the Treasury in the years 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe Government revenue from North Sea oil depends on a number of factors which cannot be precisely estimated for particular future years. I gave an estimate for the combined yield from royalties, petroleum revenue tax and corporation tax up to the end of 1980 in my answer to the hon. Member for Arundel (Mr. Marshall) on 14th June, 1976—[Vol. 913, c. 24.]
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures showing the British Government's financial take per barrel of oil; and how this compares with the position of the Norwegian Government's take.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettI regret that it is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the British Government's average financial take per barrel of oil because:—
- (a) it varies for each oil field according to its respective profitability;
- (b) it varies with changes in oil price;
- (c) it requires the forecast for the whole life of all the oil fields, and a forecast so far in the future is not available.
Figures for the Norwegian Government's take per barrel are not available, but as a percentage of profit that take is likely to be broadly comparable to the United Kingdom figure.