To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make public the environmental assessment made by Marathon Oil as part of its bid for blocks in St. George's channel included in the 14th licensing round.

The environmental information provided by applicants for licences is submitted to my Department on a commercially confidential basis, as is the case with all other material supplied in support of applications.Applicants are required to provide evidence only of their environmental policies. In addition, applicants for sensitive blocks offered in the current licensing round were encouraged to acquaint themselves with the environmental sensitivities of the areas concerned before making their application.