§ 31. Mr. Eric ClarkeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimates he has made of the life-span of remaining United Kingdom fossil fuel reserves. [23949]
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§ Mr. PageTotal British reserves of oil and gas in all known discoveries could, at 1994 rates of consumption, last respectively for 19 and 34 years. If the full potential from all possible future discoveries were to be included these would increase to over 50 years for both fuels.
The remaining reserves of coal at existing mines are estimated at around 1 billion tonnes, while 53 million tonnes were extracted in 1995. However, the prospects for future coal production are limited not by the resource base but by the economics of opening new mines.