§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Energy if, in view of the further information supplied to him by the Chemical Industries Association in its document "Supplies and Price of Gas to the Chemical Industry—Some Further Considerations", he will now publish revised and up-dated comparative figures for gas and oil prices for industrial consumers in each country of the European Economic Community, showing prices both net and inclusive of taxes.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[pursuant to his reply, 17 July 1980, c. 676]: The information on gas prices supplied by the Chemical Industries Association was in respect of prices for new and renewed contracts. Average prices are much less in the United Kingdom.
For instance, based on the results of a survey of some 900 large industrial consumers in the United Kingdom (including some chemical industry consumers), during the period 1 January to 31 March 1980 the average price paid for natural
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TABLE 1 GAS PRICES (EXCLUSIVE OF TAXES) TO INDUSTRIAL CONSUMERS IN EEC COUNTRIES City 4,000 therms Annual consumption 4,000,000 therms 40,000,000 therms Dusseldorf 35.4 24.32–25.36† — Paris 30.3 19.50–20.00† 19.30 Rome 31.7 19.53 18.90 Rotterdam 20.9 18.27 17.23 Copenhagen* 71.6 — — Brussels 27.6 17.31–15.58† 16.77 Luxembourg 21.4 — — Dublin* 57.4 — — London 24.5 25.85‡ 19.94‡ National currencies have been converted at exchange rates current on 31 December 1979. * Prices for town gas only available. † Prices vary according to load factor. ‡ Prices are estimates for new contracts only and are derived from related oil prices. The figures are therefore not on a comparable basis with the figures for other towns which are generally based on tariffs. As indicated above average prices to large industrial consumers in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of this year were about 16p per therm. gas was 16 pence per therm, whereas the average price realised in new and renewed contracts during the same period was 22 pence per therm.
Industrial consumers' prices for gas in other European countries are difficult to ascertain on a comparable basis particularly for high annual consumption levels as the fuel is sold either on contract at an individually negotiated price (as in Germany) or by tariffs which may involve complex formulae containing oil-related escalation clauses and load factors. Prices also vary from region to region in most countries and within regions tariffs may vary according to consumption.
The latest available data compiled by the statistical office of the European Community are shown in table 1 below for a representative town in each country. Data is given for three levels of consumption and are based on prices (exclusive of VAT) in force on 1 January 1980.
The latest reliable estimates for prices of heavy fuel oil compiled by the Commission for a consumption of about 24,000 tonnes per annum relate to prices in force on 15 April 1980 and are shown in table 2.
In making international comparisons it must always be borne in mind that difficulties can arise in times of rising prices and currency exchange fluctuations. There can, moreover, be wide ranges of prices within countries and methods of collating data in each country may not always provide comparable figures.
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TABLE 2 PRICES OF HEAVY FUEL OIL IN EEC COUNTRIES ON 15 APRIL 1980 Country Net price Price inclusive of tax Belgium … … … … … 77.86 79.36 Denmark … … … … … 82.94 122.70 France … … … … … 73.84 73.92 Germany … … … … … 76.39 80.02 Ireland … … … … … 97.03 111.44 Italy … … … … … 76.65 77.18 Luxembourg … … … … … — — Netherlands … … … … … 82.07 85.40 United Kingdom … … … … … 84.96 92.92 National currencies have been converted at exchange rates current on 13 April 1980.