Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-68ccn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T09:21:08.772Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Value and Distribution of the Benefits of North Sea Oil and Gas, 1970—1985

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

S. A. B. Page
S. A. B. Page*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Economic and Social Research
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Oil and gas from the North Sea will make the United Kingdom a net exporter of energy in the 1980s and supply a substantial portion of its needs through the 1990s. In value terms, the benefits are principally to the balance of payments and government revenue. The former is improved slightly relative to the pre-oil price rise position, but significantly compared with either the present balance or that of other industrial countries. The absolute size of these benefits and the share of the government in the total are extremely sensitive to the assumptions made about changes in the exchange rate, including those which result from the improvement in the balance of payments. Many decisions about the distribution of the benefits are already being taken, for example in policies for the energy sector and the exchange rate. It is therefore too late to plan to allocate all the benefits to a single purpose, and it may be undesirable to do so.

Type
Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 82 , November 1977 , pp. 41 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Department of Energy, Development of the oil and gas resources of the United Kingdom 1977 (Brown Book); Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics; Economic Policy Review (1977).Google Scholar
Treasury, Economic Progress Report, July 1976, August 1977. British Gas Corporation, Annual Report and Accounts 1976-77. BP, Statistical review of the world oil industry 1976.Google Scholar
MacKay, D.F., Mackay, G.A., The political economy of North Sea oil, Martin Robertson, 1975.Google Scholar
Robinson, C., Morgan, J., Economic consequences of controlling the depletion of North Sea oil and gas, Trade Policy Research Centre, 1976.Google Scholar
Robinson, C., Morgan, J., Effects of North Sea oil on the United Kingdom's balance of payments, Trade Policy Research Centre, 1977.Google Scholar
National Institute Economic Review, February 1975, pp. 54–59, February 1977, pp. 51–57.Google Scholar