Natural Gas

Sir Robert Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer from the Secretary of State for Scotland of 23 April 2008, Official Report, column 2042W, on gas production, when the joint Government/industry taskforce (a) last met and (b) will next meet.

Malcolm Wicks
The West of Shetland Taskforce Steering Group, which I chair, last met on 21 February 2008 and expects to meet again in the next few months.  A specific meeting date has not yet been set as timing is dependent on further technical work being carried out by the taskforce workgroup to determine the optimal development and new gas infrastructure to unlock the potential of this region.