§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the capacity of desulphurisation facilities in each of the nine EEC countries for which figures are available; and what overall capacity would be required, treating the EEC as an integrated petroleum market, if the standards outlined in the draft directive were to be complied with.
§ Mr. BennAccording to the March 1975 OECD report on refining capacity there is about 1 million tonnes a year of fuel oil desulphurisation capacity available in the EEC, located in Holland and Denmark. No information is available on the demand for low sulphur fuel oil within the EEC if the draft directive were to be implemented, or on the methods by which that would be manufactured.
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§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what requirement in extra energy input would be required to reduce the sulphur content of fuel oil to the requirements outlined in Draft Directive 90/76;
(2) what would be the capital cost to the United Kingdom petroleum industry for installing the required desulphurisation facilities to meet the targets set by Draft Directive 90/76.
§ Mr. BennThe requirements of the draft directive, if agreed, would probably be met by the use of low sulphur fuel oil from North Sea crude rather than by desulphurisation of other fuel oils.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the relationship between the cost of desulphurising solid fuels as compared with that of hydrocarbon products.
§ Mr. BennThere is no direct relationship between the costs of desulphurising solid fuels and hydrocarbon oils since they depend on many factors, such as the initial sulphur content of the fuel, the mineral matter with which it is associated, the process used and the scale of the operation.