§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what support her Department has given to the development and commercialisation of the technology described as FPSO over the last 10 years. [12695]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 27 October 1997]: We have assumed that the hon. Member when he uses the abbreviation FPSO is referring to the marine installations used in the oil and gas industry called Floating Production, Storage and Offloading facilities. FPSOs are large ships which are built for the purpose or are converted from oil tankers. Typically these ships displace over 100,000 tonnes.
517W1995 saw the publication of an authoritative report by a Working Group established by DTI with strong representation from UK industry. The Working Group sought to address the problem of the lack of competitive capability within the UK to supply FPSOs and to identify measures which could help to improve competitiveness. Since the publication of that report the UK has built up a strong capability in the building, conversion and equipping of FPSOs. The main centres of activity are Newcastle, Belfast, Glasgow and Inverness.
My Department, through the Research and Development Programme operated by the Infrastructure and Energy Projects Directorate, has provided £604,868 towards the costs of projects related to FPSO construction and operation over the last 10 years.