§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has commissioned into the future supply of oil. [140610]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 28 November 2000]: The Department is aware of a wide range of academic and industry studies which look at future world oil supplies and meets regularly with experts to discuss this and other oil market issues.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his latest estimate is of the extent of(a) United Kingdom oil reserves and (b) world oil reserves. [140612]
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§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 28 November 2000]: My Department publishes estimates of remaining recoverable oil and gas reserves in the annual "Brown Book". The latest edition (Development of UK Oil and Gas Resources 2000) is available in the Library of the House and on the Web at http://www.dbd-date.co.uk/bbonline/
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates he has made of the future demand for oil in(a) the UK, (b) the EU and (c) the world. [140592]
§ Mr. ByersMy Department has just completed a revised set of energy projections for the UK. The projections will be published as Energy Paper 68 entitled: "Energy Projections for the UK" and include estimates for the use of oil and other fuels. Energy Paper 68 is provisionally expected to be available from the Stationery Office on 8 December. Copies will also be lodged in the Library of the House.
The DTI makes no projections of oil demand outside of the UK. Some bodies make such projections, principally the International Energy Agency and the European Commission. The latter's baseline scenario projects modest growth in the use of oil.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the extent of the availability of unconventional oil sources including(a) gas to distillates, (b) heavy oils and (c) sands and shales. [140593]
§ Mr. ByersThe gas from the UK Continental Shelf would be suitable as a feedstock for gas to distillates technology. The exploitation of this technology would depend on the business case for this process in a UK context. The UK does not have significant reserves of either of the other two sources.