§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment she has made of the problems of physical storage capacity world-wide associated with the world-wide over-capacity in the production of oil. [48631]
§ Mr. BattleAssessments of current surplus storage capacity are difficult to make due to a lack of complete information on the current levels of stocks. However, it is clear that global inventories are currently high. In their latestMonthly Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency estimates that, for April 1998 (the latest month for which accurate data are available), total OECD industry and Government-controlled stocks of crude oil and products stood at 3,733 million barrels, 101 million barrels higher than at the same time last year.