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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (3046)	11/10/2005 11:45:51 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24206

Oil imports continue to outstrip exports as the trade gap narrows Laura Smith Thursday November 10, 2005 The Guardian The UK economy was a net importer of oil for the second month in a row in September, the first time this has happened since Margaret Thatcher was in power in early 1980, official figures showed yesterday. The Office for National Statistics said the September deficit followed a larger one the previous month, making it the first consecutive period when imports outstripped exports since the organisation's records began in 1980. Statisticians blamed production shutdowns caused by ongoing maintenance work on oil rigs and a fire at one oilfield for a £200m deficit that followed one of £500m in August. The figures will be a blow to the status of Britain as an oil-exporting country and show how much the industry has declined since its exporting peak in 1999. The ONS said the improvement between August and September was due to a pick-up in exports and the completion of repair work in the North Sea. Overall, Britain's gap in goods trade with the rest of the world narrowed in September to £5.4bn from a revised figure of £5.9bn for the previous month, which was in line with analysts' expectations. Fears that the economy is not benefiting from the economic upturn in some EU countries were confirmed by data showing exports to the EU fell by 3% between August and September. The trade deficit with the European Union widened to a record £3.1bn in September from £2.8bn the previous month, with exports to France, Germany and Spain all in decline. The trade gap with countries outside the EU narrowed to £2.2bn from £3.1bn in August reflecting a 9% increase in goods shipped to non-EU countries. Imports from EU countries were little changed and imports from non-EU countries fell 1%. The surplus on trade in services recovered to £1.6bn in September after the potential payouts by Lloyd's of London insurers following Hurricane Katrina wiped £1.4bn from the figures in August. This narrowed the overall trade deficit in goods and services to £3.9bn from a record £5.6bn the previous month. Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight, said that although the trade figures contained some "encouraging features" once oil was removed from the equation, "exports to the eurozone countries were unable to sustain the significant improvement seen in August." money.guardian.co.uk