U.K. OIL INDUSTRY SAID NOT PERMANENTLY DAMAGED

  The U.K. Offshore oil industry has
  suffered from last year's collapse in oil prices but should not
  sustain any permament damage, Minister of State for Energy
  Alick Buchanan-Smith said.
      The drilling, diving and supply vessels sectors had been
  most affected, Buchanan Snith told the House of Commons energy
  committee. He noted, however, that oil companies were still
  spending six mln stg a day to maintain North Sea production.
      He added that a report by the manpower services committee
  which said 14,000 jobs were lost in the industry in 1986 should
  be seen in the context of a total workforce of 300,000.
      Prices of North Sea Brent-grade crude dipped to a low of
  8.50
  dlrs a barrel last July from a peak of over 30 dlrs the
  previous November.
      They recovered to around 18 dlrs a barrel after last
  December's OPEC meeting and Brent traded today around 17.15
  dlrs.
      Buchanan-Smith said the U.K. Has no intention of adopting
  OPEC style quotas, noting that Britian is an oil-consuming as
  well as an oil-producing nation.
  

