§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has signed any further definitive participation agreements to implement the outline agreements reached with the oil companies.
§ Mr. BennYes. On 1st June I signed the participation agreement with the British National Oil Corporation and British Petroleum. The agreement is of major significance in the development of BNOC. It gives BNOC access, subject to resale and swap arrangements, to up to 51 per cent. of all BP's crude ail produced from its interests on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, in addition to the considerable quantities of crude oil already available to the Corporation from its various equity stakes in North Sea fields and from the other partcipation agreements. BNOC will also have an effective voice in the running of all commercial oil fields in which BP has an interest, either through a vote or by joining with the BP management team, and it will have access to all information relating to such fields from the date each field is declared to be commercial.
219WThe agreement for downstream cooperation between BNOC and BP Oil Limited, BP's United Kingdom refining and marketing subsidiary, which was also signed on 1st June, is unique in its form. BP Oil Limited will provide training for BNOC staff in refining, distribution and marketing; BNOC will have a non-voting presence in BP Oil's refining and marketing counsels providing BNOC does not enter refining or marketing operations in the United Kingdom itself; and BNOC and BP Oil will seek to establish a long-term basis for co-operation in United Kingdom refining and marketing.
I have placed a summary of the participation agreement and a complete text of the agreement for downstream cooperation in the Libraries of both Houses, as well as releasing them to the Press.