Oil and Gas: UK Continental Shelf Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Goddard of Stockport
Main Page: Lord Goddard of Stockport (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Goddard of Stockport's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(6 years, 6 months ago)
Lords ChamberThe noble Lord makes a very important point, which I will certainly pass on to my colleagues in other departments.
My Lords, I draw attention to my interests in the register; I am a vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the British Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. Does the Minister agree that one way to enhance the recovery of oil and gas from the United Kingdom continental shelf, increase tax revenues and create valuable jobs in the industry—which has lost 150,000 jobs since 2014—would be to focus simply on extended production of late-life fields and promote early development of known proven resources?
The noble Lord is correct: we should do that. As his noble friend said, we should also continue with explorations. There is much that we can do, that the Government are doing and that the industry is doing.