LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - British lawmakers launched aninquiry into the mining and oil and gas industries on Wednesday,seeking to better understand their contribution to the economyand the impact of having scandal-prone companies listed inLondon.
The wide-ranging investigation comes as Britain seeks tomaximise its hydrocarbon reserves in the North Sea and startexploiting shale resources, and it follows a series of scandalsat mining companies with shares trading in London.
Parliament's Committee for Business, Innovation and Skillson Wednesday invited submissions on almost a dozen questionsincluding how extractive industries contribute to the economy,jobs and exports; what are the corporate governance concerns ofcompanies operating abroad but trading on UK exchanges; whetherBritain has the skills base to remain a centre for extractiveindustries; and what the impacts are of signing up to a resourcetransparency initiative.
Britain said in May it would join a global initiativerequiring oil and mining firms to comply with new disclosuremeasures aimed at tackling corruption.
Lawmakers in May flagged they were considering atransparency inquiry. High-profile corruption probes are alreadyunderway involving Kazakh miner ENRC andIndonesia-focused coal producer Bumi, which they fearhave dented the London stock market's reputation.
This latest inquiry appeared to go further by alsoconsidering the economic impact of oil and gas and miningcompanies and whether British businesses are well placed tobenefit from shale gas opportunities.
The government, eager for energy to play a part in revivingthe economy, is trying to encourage investment in the sector bya series of tax breaks. In June, it also began a review of oiland gas recovery in the North Sea.
The inquiry will produce a written report, which is notexpected until 2014, with policy recommendations forconsideration by the Conservative-led coalition government.
The committee is made up of lawmakers from across the threemain British political parties. Other ongoing inquiries includean examination of the British retail sector and the possiblebusiness implications of Scottish independence.