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Petroleum Act 1998 (Third Party Access) Order 2007

My Lords, we welcome the order, and I thank the Minster for explaining it. It seems not only sensible but important. As the Minister says, at capacity, the Langeled South pipeline is capable of meeting some 20 per cent of our current gas requirements. It is good news that it will no longer be necessary to negotiate separate project-specific agreements. Equally, it is essential that the correct regulatory framework is put in place. As your Lordships would expect, therefore, I have a few questions for the Minister. I would be grateful for clarification of the interplay between the Norwegian and UK authorities. The Explanatory Memorandum helpfully explains that, as things stand, the Secretary of State is entitled to determine third party access to controlled petroleum pipelines, but he may not act jointly with the Norwegian authorities. It goes on to say that the draft order provides for third party access to pipelines such as Langeled South to be determined under the Norwegian system rather than the UK one and for the Secretary of State to act jointly with the Norwegian authorities in determining disputes. Can the Minister explain in simple terms how the Norwegian access system will differ from the existing system? Why will the Secretary of State be involved at all, as set out in subsection (6) and subsection (8), which require him to determine applications jointly with the Norwegian authorities? In practical terms, it seems that he is inexorably going to have less control over time. In that context, what mechanism is there to resolve situations where he and the Norwegian authorities disagree? I understand that the development of the pipeline project is headed by a joint Norsk Hydro/Statoil team, which I believe means that it is partly state-owned. As the Norwegian authorities will be regulating access, how will that potential conflict of interest be handled? What consultation has taken place over the order generally with the UK gas industry? Given the particular importance of the pipeline in contributing to the security of gas to this country, what progress is being made to increase the UK’s gas storage capacity, which is of course of equal importance to supply itself? In looking forward to the Minister’s responses to these and other noble Lords’ questions, I confirm that we will not stand in the way of the order.