Vol. 381 No. 5
asked the Minister for Energy when he will conclude negotiations with representatives of the Nigerian State Oil Company relating to the supply of crude oil and the use of the Whiddy and Whitegate facilities, County Cork; if he will outline the guarantees he is seeking to protect Irish strategic interests; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
19.
asked the Minister for Energy if, now that the temporary reserve placed on Whiddy and Whitegate oil refinery, County Cork has expired, he will invite proposals from other interested parties for the future use of these facilities.
30.
asked the Minister for Energy whether he intends commissioning an independent assessment of the proposed deal with the Nigerian Government for the use of Whitegate and Whiddy, County Cork; and if he will make such an assessment available to Dáil Éireann.
32.
asked the Minister for Energy the latest position regarding the proposal by the Nigerian State Oil Company to use Whitegate oil refinery and Whiddy storage terminal, County Cork; if he has received firm proposals on the plan; if, under the proposed plan, control of Whitegate and Whiddy would remain with the Irish State; if the plan includes a proposal to build a pipeline from Cork to Dublin; the financial investment which will be required from (a) the Nigerian State Oil Company and (b) the INPC or his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
39.
asked the Minister for Energy if he will comment on a recent report (details supplied) which stated that as a result of the British consultants' finding in favour of the £200 million project for the Whiddy and Whitegate oil refineries in County Cork, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company have submitted the full project proposal to his Department.
44.
asked the Minister for Energy whether final details of the proposed deal with Nigerian interests have been presented to him; and if he intends commissioning an independent assessment of this deal.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 19, 30, 32, 39, and 44 together.
I would refer Deputies to the reply I gave to the House on 28 January and 17 May in relation to the proposals made on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
A final project proposal was received by me on 2 May and my Department, in conjunction with the INPC, are currently examining it with all speed possible bearing in mind the complexity of the issues involved. I have also engaged outside consultants to provide an independent appraisal of the proposal. I do not consider that it would be appropriate to publish the consultants' report when completed.
I have long held the belief that Ireland's strategic oil needs can best be served by the presence of an operating oil refinery backed up with adequate stocks of both crude and product. It can be taken that in the course of any negotiations I would ensure that the State's strategic interests are protected.
The proposed project proposal includes a plan for the construction of an oil products pipeline from the Whitegate refinery to Dublin with a number of intermediate depots. It would not be appropriate for me to make any statement in relation to this or other aspects of the proposal which are now under examination.
I have seen the media report to the effect that consultants engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have submitted a favourable report to the NNPC on the proposals which were received by me on 2 May. I am not in a position to comment on the consultants' report as it has not been forwarded to me. It should be noted that such a report could not in any way comment upon the acceptability of the proposals to the Irish Government.
I will, of course, give careful consideration to any proposal which is received for the use of the facilities at the Whiddy terminal or the Whitegate refinery. It is open to any interested party to submit their proposal to my Department.
This question has been asked of the Minister before but now that independent consultants are vetting this proposal, can he give us an assurance that this matter will be laid before the Dáil so that it can be debated and a decision taken on it before any commitment is entered into by the Government? Great concern has been expressed, as the Minister has rightly said, and it has been referred to many times in the media of late, that the strategic interests in this country could possibly be undermined by entering into this deal with the Nigerians. Will the Minister give an undertaking to have the matter laid before the Dáil so that approval of the deal will be given before any commitment is entered into? The Minister said that he is open to negotiations being entered into by other oil producing countries. Can that happen before this deal is concluded or does it have to await his decision on the final outcome of this Nigerian deal?
In relation to Dáil Éireann making a decision on the matter, within the Constitution the Government are the Executive and the Executive make the decisions, as happened in the past when the previous administration made a decision in relation to the handing back by the previous owners of Whiddy to the State with a lump sum. That was notified to the Dáil and the same procedure will apply in this case. I am sure we will have a debate in the House. I am open to that but it is a matter for the Whips. The Dáil will be notified of the decision.
As far as the second part of Deputy O'Malley's question is concerned, we are open to proposals from any other country. They do not have to await a decision on the Nigerian proposal that is before us. There have been a number of visits to Whiddy and Whitegate by other interested groups. Contacts have been made and discussions have been going on in relation to that matter. At the request of the Nigerian Government there was a reserve put on the facilities, in view of the fact that they had to invest much money in preparing their project proposal. Mr. Lukman, their oil Minister, when writing to me last November at the time the original outline proposition was put to us, asked that in view of the cost that would be involved for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation a reserve would be put on it pending a final submission of their proposal. That timespan has now lapsed and it is open to other proposers to make any proposition they like.
May I ask the Minister whether the Government have been negotiating with the Nigerian Government, whether the INPC have been negotiating with their corresponding company in Nigeria, or whether all the negotiations are done by middle people?
The original proposition came forward from the Nigerian petroleum Minister, Mr. Lukman. He nominated a company on his behalf to carry out the initial negotiations with the Government of the Republic. The negotiations were carried out with a working group that I appointed in my Department of which the INPC were members. The proposal now before the Government is the proposal from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. There is no middle man involved. The agents nominated by the Nigerian Government were the people who carried out the preparatory discussions and negotiations, together with the representatives of Citicorp.
The Minister has given a substantial number of the replies that were required. He mentioned outline proposals made last November. Does that mean that he has now received firm proposals? The Minister mentioned that it is the intention of the Government to ensure that the strategic interests of the country are protected. Is he in a position to say if that means that Whitegate and Whiddy will remain in Irish State hands? Finally, the Minister referred to other people looking at the facilities. Are there any outline or firm proposals before the Minister other than the Nigerian ones?
I now have before me the firm proposal. An outline proposition was put to the Government and discussions took place on it. Around mid-March the discussions had reached a certain stage, at which time I wrote to the promoters and agents and said that we had gone as far as we could on the outline proposal and that I wanted a firm proposal. That final proposal has been with me since 2 May. I have indicated that a decision will be made within six to eight weeks of that and we are still on time-scale for that. As far as the strategic aspect is concerned, obviously that is a matter that we will have to take into account in arriving at a decision as to the ownership of Whiddy and Whitegate. As to whether any other proposals have been made, the answer is no. Discussions are taking place with a number of other people but we have not received any firm proposal yet.
May I ask the Minister, in view of the frequency with which the proposal has changed and the toing and froing that has occurred, if he is satisfied that the agents with whom he has been negotiating are in a position to give the sort of binding guarantees that he, as Minister responsible in this area, has a right to present to the Dáil?
I want to assure the Deputy that we have received nothing at all from agents. What is before the Government is a proposal from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. There are no agents involved.
I have two questions down on this matter. The Minister answered about five questions together. May I ask the Minister if, in the event of this deal going ahead and a new company being formed, the only shareholders in that new company will be the Nigerian Government and the Irish Government?
I am not going to go into the details of the proposal in advance of a decision being made on the matter. I have to bring the matter to the Government and when considerations have been finalised, when the independent report has been made and we have had an opportunity to examine it and when a decision is made report to the Dáil.
This proposal has created an amount of news media attention in the last six months, always on the basis that a decision was imminent and that this major beneficial deal for the Irish economy and for Whiddy and Whitegate was going to be announced the following week. It now appears from what the Minister is not saying that a decision on this matter will be made by the Government without reference to this House and at a time when this House is in recess. On such a major matter as this, from strategic and financial points of view——
Questions, Deputy Barry, please.
——that is undesirable. I would ask the Minister to avoid that situation arising.
It is my intention that the decision will be made while the House is sitting. I have said already that it would be within six to eight weeks from the time the proposal was made and the House will still be sitting at that time. It is my intention that a decision will be made during June when the House is sitting and the House will be notified of that decision.
We want an opportunity to debate the decision.
