asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce why no exploration licences for blocks in the Slyne Trough were issued, in view of the fact that, if oil were discovered there, it would be commercially recoverable many years before oil in the Porcupine or Rockall Trough due to the comparative shallowness of the water and the proximity to land.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Oil Exploration Licences.
4.
Acreage in the Slyne Trough will be included in the offshore territory covered by exploration licences which I expect to grant shortly.
Could the Minister indicate on whose initiative the allotments are made? Do the company indicate the area they wish to explore or does the Minister indicate the areas he wishes the company to explore?
The same basic information is, of course, available to both sides. The policy in regard to a widespread scatter of blocks all over the Continental Shelf so that we build up a geological picture is decided by the Department but the resulting decisions are, of course, the outcome of negotiations between the two sides. Companies may ask for more than we want to give or places where we do not want them to go and we may urge them in the direction we want them to go. Neither side has the sole role in determining the ultimate location.