§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Trade what has been the total import bill for oil exploration and production equipment over the last 12 months on a balance of payments basis.
§ Mr. MeacherThe total cost of imports of oil production installations and drilling rigs in the 12 months ended March was estimated to be £339 million on a balance of payments basis. A proportion of this total would be made up of goods and services previously exported from the United Kingdom. There will be other imports of equiment for use in Continental Shelf operations, but this use cannot be identified at the time of importation.