Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) how deliveries of heating oil to consumers in the United Kingdom since 1 January to 17 February compare with the same period in 1978;
(2) what was the total tonnage of heating oil used in the United Kingdom in 1978; how much heating oil is at present in storage tanks in the United Kingdom belonging to (a) oil companies and (b) Government storage; and how much there was in the same storage at 1 January.
§ Dr. John CunninghamI regret that complete details by end use of products used for heating are not available. Deliveries in 1978 of the following products, only a proportion of which would be used for heating purposes, were as follows:
(Thousand tonnes) 1978 provisional figures Burning Oil 2,650 Gas/diesel (other than Derv) 13,562 Fuel oil 28,117 Information is collected only on a calendar month basis and complete details for January 1979 are not yet available. However, a provisional estimate of deliveries in January 1979 indicates a similar pattern to that in January 1978.
682WDetails of Government stocks are confidential, but total oil company stocks were as follows:
(Thousand tonnes) December 1978 31 January 1979 (provisional) Burning Oil 516 426 Gas/diesel (including Derv) 2,703 2,382 Fuel Oil 4,234 3,888 The stock levels at 31 January 1979 are provisional and may be subject to alteration.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Energy what percentage of the United Kingdom's heating oil needs were met by imports from Iran during 1977 and 1978.
§ Dr. John CunninghamImports from Iran in 1977 and 1978, expressed as a percentage of total United Kingdom demand, were 15.3 per cent. and 12.6 per cent. respectively. Crude oil is a relatively homogenous raw material which is subsequently blended and processed into many products. It is not, therefore, possible to identify the use made of particular imports.