HC Deb 22 December 1997 vol 303 c508W
Mrs. Gillan

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is her estimate of jobs created by the development of United Kingdom Continental Shelf gas and oil resources(a) offshore and (b) in contracting and supply industries onshore. [19990]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 9 December 1997]: (a) The Inland Revenue estimates the number of people employed offshore to be around 26,850.

(b) There are no comprehensive official statistics for this industrial sector due to the difficulties in identifying the goods and services used in the development of oil and gas resources, but the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association has estimated that direct and indirect employment onshore could be some 300,000. In the early 1970s, UK suppliers and contractors' share of UKCS developments was estimated to be 25 to 30 per cent. In 1991, the last year for which data were collated the UK share was 78 per cent.