§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions his Department has had with Shell United Kingdom Ltd., Total Oil Marine, and Grampian regional council on the setting up of gas gathering liquid plants in the area of St. Fergus in the constituency of East Aberdeenshire; and what was the result of their discussions.
§ Mr. GrayIn my reply of 5 July to my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Hannam) I mentioned that at my request British Gas and Mobil had agreed to carry out as 627W quickly as possible a feasibility and design study for a gas gathering project, that the operators of the existing pipelines had assured me of their co-operation in that study and that I looked to the licensees of fields which might feed gas into a new line to co-operate fully. In that context, my Department has had general discussions with Shell and Total as licensees and operators of existing pipelines about co-operation with British Gas and Mobil North Sea Ltd.
The scope of the study includes facilities for handling gas liquids. The Department has not discussed this matter with Grampian regional council, though I understand that staff engaged on the study have had preliminary discussions on possible locations for gas processing facilities with several local bodies, including that council.