To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to achieve the revised target of holding national crude oil and oil product stocks equivalent to 90 days' worth of net imports. [HL2521]

The UK's current obligation is to hold oil stocks equivalent to 67½ days worth of final consumption. The latest information available for December 2009 showed that the UK held about 14.5 million tonnes of oil in stocks. This is equivalent to 84 days of final consumption or some 800 days of net imports.

As indigenous crude oil production declines, net imports will increase and will lead to a consequent increase in the UK's oil stocking obligation with the transition from an obligation based on final consumption to one based on net imports. The timing of this change depends on a range of factors, including the decline rate of indigenous oil production and the pattern of future UK oil product demand.