§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the changes made since October 1989 in the way fuel trade figures have been(a) collected, (b) analysed or (c) presented.
§ Mr. WakehamFuel trade data are collected by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and there have been no changes in the method of collection since October 1989. The data are published each month in "Overseas Trade Statistics".
The Central Statistical Office—CSO—uses the trade data collected by Customs and Excise to compile the balance of payments. The CSO make various adjustments to "Overseas Trade Statistics". From 1989 onwards these have included an estimate for any direct exports of crude oil from offshore fields reported late to Customs and Excise.
The trade data collected by Customs and Excise record import values on a "c.i.f basis"—including insurance and freight—and export values on an "f.o.b basis"—free on 196W board. This is a standard convention used both in the United Kingdom and internationally. The CSO, in compiling the balance of payments, put imports and exports on a comparable basis—that is, both imports and exports are recorded on an f.o.b basis. Again this is an internationally accepted convention. Import data are therefore available on both a c.i.f basis and f.o.b basis and this has not been changed since October 1989. The data are published by the CSO each month in the balance of payments press notice.
The Department of Energy reproduces fuel trade data in the annual "Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics" and the monthly statistical bulletin "Energy Trends". Prior to 1991 data on imports and exports of fuels by quantity were expressed in tonnes of coal, from 1991 onwards data are expressed in tonnes of oil. Also prior to 1991 these two publications included data on imports only on a c.i.f basis; they now, in addition, include imports data on an f.o.b basis. This follows the convention used by the CSO and means that data on the values of imports and exports are available on a similar basis.