§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will consider leaving royalty oil in situ as part of a depletion policy.
§ Mr. David HowellThis would be for consideration together with production cutback on which, as I made clear on 23 July in my reply to the hon. Member for Bristol, West (Mr. Waldegrave), no decisions have been taken. In the meantime, we shall be exploring the possibility and its implications with the industry.