Brown urges increased oil boost
Gordon Brown speaking to oil industry leaders
Gordon Brown has urged oil industry leaders to come up with ideas for improving supplies as fuel prices soar.
The government has announced new moves to increase oil production in the North Sea. Number 10 says it wants to make the most of the UK's reserves.
It comes after lorry drivers staged protests against rising costs and Labour MPs urged ministers to rethink increases in both petrol and road tax.
The PM and Chancellor Alistair Darling are in Scotland meeting oil bosses.
As the talks began, Business Secretary John Hutton announced the go-ahead for oil production to start in two new fields, West Don and Don South West - although oil experts said this would have no impact on prices.
'Can't turn the taps on'
The areas are expected to start operating in the first half of next year with an estimated production rate of up to 50,000 barrels of oil a day at their peak and a total output of 50 million barrels.
Mr Hutton also unveiled plans for new oil and gas fields to be carved out of unprofitable parts of around 30 existing fields, which could see additional daily production of 20,000 barrels of oil.
This is not just a national problem - it is a global problem of supply and demand, not just in the short term, but the medium term and the long term
Gordon Brown
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A record 193 applications have been received to explore for oil and gas in the latest licensing round.
After the meeting in Banchory, near Aberdeen, Mr Brown said: "We want to do more to increase production in the North Sea and we have made proposals today that I believe will incentivise, not only existing fields, but new fields, to come on stream."
However, Alex Kemp, professor of petroleum economics at Aberdeen University, said there was no short-term solution for increasing production in the North Sea.
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"The idea of increasing production is something that you can't just do, immediately anyway because the industry operations on a 24-hour per day basis, 365 days per year. So you can't - as the media often colloquially say - turn on the taps," he said.
The government is under mounting pressure to ditch controversial plans to increase road tax on gas guzzling cars.
Mr Hutton and Justice Secretary Jack Straw insisted the prime minister was "listening" to concerns over the planned increase in vehicle excise duty - giving rise to speculation that the government could stage a U-turn.
'Green agenda'
However, the prime minister's official spokesman said the two Cabinet ministers were saying "nothing more than the government understands the concerns of the motorists and hauliers".
"The chancellor and the prime minister would happily agree with them," he said.
However, he added that Mr Brown was not going to retreat from "his green agenda".
The prime minister has called on nations to unite to stabilise the price of oil, which has increased from US $10 a barrel a decade ago to $135 today.
He says the UK will argue that a global strategy to tackle the impact of higher oil prices be put at the top of the agenda of the next meeting of the G8 group of industrialised countries.
'Don't rush'
Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable, a former economist at oil giant Shell, said if he were chancellor he would wait before making a decision on the 2p fuel duty rise - but added he could not see an easy way to pay for scrapping it.
HAVE YOUR SAYWe should get behind the truckers and make our own protestsTony, Liverpool
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"We have to wait until the autumn and we have to see what conditions are like," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"There's no point rushing ahead with a decision on that. It may be that the world oil price will fall very substantially in the intervening months and the problem will seem to have dissipated somewhat.
"But I would have the problem, if I was chancellor, of getting the money somewhere else and it isn't altogether obvious where the money would come from."
On Tuesday the Treasury defended its plans to increase duty on more polluting cars registered since 2001 by as much as £200, saying this would increase the incentive to develop and purchase fuel-efficient cars.
So far, 42 MPs have signed a Commons motion asking the chancellor to reconsider the policy on the grounds that it is retrospective and "unfair" to people who have already bought their cars.
Mr Darling is due to meet backbenchers next week to discuss their concerns.
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WTF should they increase it, its him whos grabbing the vast majority of the profit ?
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Re: Brown urges increased oil boost
Originally Posted by Freddy
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