HC Deb 07 June 1993 vol 226 cc162-3W
Mr. Page

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the prevalence of legally binding joint application agreements of consortia for North sea licences requiring absolute unanimity among companies for any one consortium to withdraw from a licensing round; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Eggar

Absolute unanimity was not a requirement among companies applying as a consortium for blocks offered in the 14th offshore licensing round. While no additional partners could be added after the consortium's application had been received, the withdrawal of original members, with the agreement of their partners, has been accepted.

Mr. Page

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) when his Department issued its offer to consortia to withdraw from the 14th round for North sea oil licences following the abolition of petroleum revenue tax relief; and if the offer was sent to all companies involved in consortia;

(2) how many days' notice were given by his Department for consultation between all members of consortia to decide whether to withdraw from their legally binding agreements and applications under the 14th round for North sea oil licences.

Mr. Eggar

A letter was sent on 26 March to the operator company leading each consortium which had applied for blocks offered in the 14th offshore licensing round. This letter was not sent until some two weeks after the proposed changes to petroleum revenue tax were announced in the Budget so that companies had a chance to examine their impact. It afforded companies an opportunity to reconsider their applications, and asked for a response by 2 April. Where companies asked for longer to respond, their request was granted.

Mr. Page

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many consortia are involved in bidding for the 14th round of North sea licences;

(2) how many companies, on average, take part in each consortium bidding for a licence for oil extraction in the North sea.

Mr. Eggar

Bids for the 14th offshore round licences were received from 63 consortia of up to five partners, and from 12 sole applicants. The average size of consortium was three companies.