§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment she has made of(a) gas and (b) oil reserves in the North Sea. [165079]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 1 April 2004]: The Department carries out an annual exercise to assess the likely levels of remaining North Sea oil and gas reserves. The results of this exercise are published on DTI's Oil and Gas website at www.og.dti.gov.uk.
The latest estimates are as at the end of 2002 and total remaining reserves (including the undiscovered) are estimated to lie in the range of some 934–2984 billion cubic metres of gas and 951–3606 million tonnes of oil.
Updated estimates, of remaining reserves as at end 2003. are due to be published on the website this summer.