§ Mr. TrickettTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the life span of British natural gas resources at the current rate of depletion, and taking into account the consents for gas-powered electricity generating stations which have been granted but not implemented. [109115]
§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answer 8 February 2000]: Estimates of the United Kingdom's remaining recoverable reserves of gas are given in the Department of Trade and Industry's "Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom 1999", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. This shows that discovered reserves could yield 1,795 billion cubic metres (bcm). This is equivalent to 18 years of production at current rates. If the full potential from as yet undrilled structures were to 243W be realised, this could raise discovered reserves to 3,625 bcm. Estimates of reserves are, however, not constant over time and exploration may add to these estimates.
Whether production from these reserves will fully meet UK demand for any future period depends on a number of variables such as the timing of commencement and cessation of production in particular fields. As the Government indicated in their Energy White Paper in October 1998 (Cm 4071), it is likely that some gas imports would be required by the end of this decade.