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Mr. Gordon Brown
asked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the cost to the balance of payments of the import of refined petrochemical products in each year since 1975; and if he will express that as a percentage of total imports.
Mr. Buchanan-Smith
The value of imports of refined and semi-refined petroleum products is given below:
| Value (£m) | Value as percentage of total visible imports | |
| 1975 | 699 | 2·9 |
| 1976 | 930 | 3·0 |
| 1977 | 968 | 2·7 |
| 1978 | 998 | 2·4 |
| 1979 | 1,550 | 3·2 |
| 1980 | 1,802 | 3·6 |
| 1981 | 2,123 | 4·1 |
| 1982 | 2,326 | 4·1 |
| 1983 | 2,423 | 3·7 |
| *1984 | 4,231 | 5·4 |
| * Provisional; All figures include process oils which are used in the United Kingdom as a refinery feedstock. | ||