To ask the President of the Board of Trade if his Department will be revising its Brown Book forecasts in light of the Budget changes to the oil taxation regime and their likely impact; and if he will make a statement.

The Brown Book forecasts for petroleum production front 1993 to 1997 to be included in the Brown Book were published on 4 March, Official Report, columns 252–53. The tax changes announced in the Budget are not expected to have a significant effect on production over this period; and there are no plans to revise the figures before the Brown Book is published at the end of April.