§ 23. Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give(a) the estimates and (b) the actual amounts of recoverable oil resources obtained from the North sea for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI refer my hon. Friend to the forecasts and actual levels of oil production published annually in the Brown Book, my Department's report to Parliament on the development of United Kingdom oil and gas resources; following is a summary.
Million tonnes of oil produced in United Kingdom from 1984–1988 (includes condensate and gross natural gas liquid output)
Year of Brown Book forecast 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1983 95–125 95–125 85–120 — — 1984 110–130 110–130 100–125 85–115 80–115 1985 — 120–135 110–130 95–125 85–120 1986 — — 120–135 110–130 100–125 1987 — — — 115–130 105–125 1988 — — — — 105–125 Actual 126 127 127 123 — Note: Forecasts may vary from year to year, as new information on resources becomes available and as companies' plans develop. Actual production for 1988 is not yet available. Non-North Sea production accounts for about 0.5 mt of production a year.
§ 41. Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the costs of abandoning oil installations in the North sea.
83W
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Mr. Favell) on 12 December 1988 at column482.