HC Deb 19 March 1980 vol 981 cc205-6W
Mr. Skeet

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will reshape the gas monopoly by making available to industrial consortia in select areas of the United Kingdom a limited number of undeveloped gas fields in the North Sea to be linked by independently operated trunk and distribution systems.

Mr. Gray

There is no monopoly over the production of gas. The right to produce gas from an offshore gas field lies with the holder of the production licence for the area in which it is found.