asked the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the percentage change in (a) industrial and (b) domestic consumption of oil over the past six months compared with the previous year.

In the six-month period ending July 1979, compared with the same period last year, the figures for inland deliveries show an increase of about ½ per cent. in the industrial sector, including deliveries to power stations, and an increase of 4 per cent in the domestic sector.