Oil future
Sir: Lord Balogh recently announced in the House of Lords that government income from North Sea oil could be as much as £4,000 million between now and 1980, together with some astronomical predictions concerning the annual take thereafter.
This recalls, to my mind, at least, the statement by Dr Johnson than one cucumber would reach to the moon, if it were long enough. One barrel of oil would do it, if it were dear enough,
\ Surely the Minister's prediction must have been based on x barrels of oil at Ey per barrel. Should we not be told what x and y are, the steps being taken to achieve this golden goal, and the pitfalls, of our own or others' making, which might lie between now and its achievement? A vague, round-figure "here lieth El Dorado" seems to me an open invitation to complacency. /. C. Snell 28 Bishopric Court, Bishopric, Horsham, Sussex
Previous page
