§ Mr. Stan Thorneasked the Secretary of State for Industry how much public financial assistance the Burmah Oil Company and its United Kingdom subsidiaries have received in connection with the establishment and subsequent operation of its oil refinery at Ellesmere Port; and how much public financial assistance the company has received in total in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. MacGregor[pursuant to his reply, 1 July, c. 401]: The Following assistance was made available 22W under the Industry Act 1972 to the Burmah Oil Company in connection with its oil refining activities at Ellesmere Port:
£ Payments of Regional Development Grant 3,423,370 Grant has also been paid to the company under the Investment Grant scheme, which was discontinued in October 1970. Information on the amount of grant paid is no longer available.
No offers under sections 7 or 8 of the Act were made available to the company at Ellesmere Port specifically, but the following assistance was offered in total to Burmah Oil Company generally under section 7 of the Act:
Year £ 1973 17,820 1975 12,000 No section 8 assistance has been offered to the company.
In view of the large number of subsidiaries and the diverse nature of the company's activities, a statement of the total amount of regional development grant paid to the Burmah Oil Company and its subsidiaries could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.