Oil, petrol and natural gas
This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on oil, petrol and natural gas. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.
Standard Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 11.07.2013 | Shale gas and fracking |
| The recent rapid development of unconventional gas resources (notably shale gas) in North America has transformed the world gas-market outlook. This note looks at the situation in the UK, covering resource estimates and economic potential, the regulatory regime, environmental considerations and current policy on fracking and shale gas. | |
| 02.07.2013 | Domestic gas and electricity prices: Social Indicators page |
| Depiction of trends in the retail prices of gas and electricity since privatisation. | |
| 02.07.2013 | Road fuel prices: Social Indicators page |
| UK pretrol and diesel price trends and cross EU price comparisons | |
| 12.04.2013 | Heating oil and other off-gas grid heating |
| This note sets out the regulation of the off-gas grid energy market, and possible sources of support for those who live off the gas grid and have to rely on other fuels such as heating oil or LPG to heat their homes. | |
| 26.03.2013 | Taxation of road fuels |
| This note sets out the way in which road fuels are taxed, and the Government's approach in recent years, before discussing the recent debate about reducing the burden of high oil prices on road users. |
Research Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 12.03.2013 | Energy Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| This paper complements Library Research Paper 12/79 on the Energy Bill 2012-13. It covers the Bill's Second Reading and Committee Stages. The Bill seeks to implement electricity market reform and introduces 'contracts for difference' to support all forms of low carbon generation, including nuclear. Government amendments made during Committee Stage related to cheaper energy tariffs and setting a decarbonisation target. | |
| 13.12.2012 | Energy Bill |
| The Energy Bill [Bill 100 of 2012-13] seeks to implement 'electricity market reform' and through this achieve 'secure, clean and affordable' electricity supplies. The Bill was introduced to the Commons on 29 November 2012 and will have its Second Reading debate on 19 December 2012. A draft Bill was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee. | |
| 19.10.2012 | Social Indicators |
| A compendium of the latest social statistics. This edition includes articles on: UK aviation: airports and capacity; Road fuel prices and taxes across the EU; and a look back at London 2012. | |
| 04.05.2011 | Energy Bill [HL] |
| This briefing on the Energy Bill has been prepared for the Second Reading Debate in the House of Commons. The flagship policy in the Bill is the 'Green Deal', a scheme whereby homes would be given finance upfront to make energy efficiency improvements, which would then be paid for by energy bill savings. The Bill would also set up a new obligation on energy companies to help certain groups of consumers with saving energy, who need extra support. The Bill also introduces a range of other measures designed to improve energy efficiency; such as facilitating the roll-out of smart meters, widening access to energy performance certificates and making information on energy bills clearer. The Bill also provides measures designed to help improve energy security, to encourage low carbon generation and to grant additional powers to the Coal Authority to charge for certain services. | |
| 23.04.2008 | Energy Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| [Bill 79 of 2007-08] |
Select Committee Reports
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 14.10.2009 | UK offshore oil and gas. |
| Government response. Department of Energy and Climate Change; Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 17.06.2009 | UK offshore oil and gas. |
| Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report [Commons] |
Early Day Motions
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 30.11.2011 | OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY |
| That this House notes the contribution of the oil and gas industry to the UK economy; further notes that this billion pound industry supported 440,000 jobs across the UK in 2010 with ... | |
| 28.11.2011 | FUEL PRICES ON MOTORWAYS |
| That this House believes that fuel prices on motorways are too high; notes that a recent survey by WhatCar? found that fuel prices on motorways are up to 7.4 per cent. higher than the ... | |
| 20.10.2011 | HYDRAULIC FRACTURING (FRACKING) (No. 2) |
| That this House believes a moratorium should be placed on onshore and offshore exploration, development and production of shale gas via the withdrawal of UK Petroleum Exploration and ... | |
| 06.07.2011 | FUEL SMUGGLING IN NORTHERN IRELAND |
| That this House notes that the Northern Ireland Justice Minister estimated in 2011 that there is an annual tax loss of 200 million from fuel fraud and cross-border fuel shopping in ... | |
| 07.06.2011 | PETROL PRICES IN THE UK |
| That this House believes that the current cost of fuel is one of the biggest brakes on economic growth, and is causing hardship for many; notes that this is especially true in towns ... |
Lords Library Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 13.12.2010 | Debate on 16 December 2010: Deepwater Horizon and its implications. LLN 2010/030 |
| Debate on 16 December 2010: Deepwater Horizon and its implications. House of Lords Library Note 2010/030 |
POST Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 23.01.2012 | Measuring Energy Security |
| This POSTnote explores ways in which energy security may be measured for monitoring purposes. | |
| 01.07.2011 | Biofuels from algae, July 2011 |
| This POSTnote examines the technical, economic and environmental issues around algal biofuels and their relevance to UK and EU policy targets. | |
| 01.04.2011 | Unconventional gas, April 2011 |
| This POSTnote examines the potential for unconventional gas exploitation in the UK, the regulatory regimes covering such activity, and the issues surrounding the extraction and use of the gas. | |
| 01.02.2008 | Smart metering of electricity and gas, February 2008 |
| Smart metering of electricity and gas, February 2008. POSTnote 08/301. | |
| 01.10.2007 | Public opinion on electricity options, October 2007 |
| Public opinion on electricity options, October 2007. POSTnote 07/294. | |
| 01.08.2007 | Transport biofuels, August 2007 |
| Transport biofuels, August 2007. POSTnote 07/293. |
