asked the Secretary of State for Energy, following the successive advances in crude oil prices by OPEC, whether it is the Government's intention to use the provisions contained in Clause 1 of the Energy Bill to control the price of petroleum products derived from it.

As I told the House on 21st October, we wish to take reserve powers and have no immediate plans to introduce a permanent system of price controls on individual petroleum products. However, control over the maximum retail price of paraffin will be continued for the time being.