Vol. 427 No. 3
12 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the information if any available to his Department regarding reports of a substantial gas find close to the existing Kinsale field; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Apart from the gas discovered and now being produced at the Kinsale and Ballycotton gas fields, no finds have been located which are considered to be commercially exploitable.
It may be that the Deputy is referring to the most recent exploration well drilled which was operated by Bula Oil Ltd., last autumn in Block 48/19 in the Celtic Sea. The Deputy will be aware that, as with all wells drilled, data from the well has been supplied to my Department which maintains its confidentiality for certain specified periods.
However, following completion of their well the company issued a press statement on the drilling results. The well encountered a number of hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir formations and, as stated by the company, short term tests over two reservoir intervals resulted in the recovery of a small quantity of low-gravity oil. While I am pleased to note that the well confirmed the presence of quantities of oil, the result was disappointing. The company has permanently plugged and abandoned the well and has indicated that further work will be undertaken to assess the potential of the area.
I thank the Minister for that information and I seek clarification regarding the data provided. Is the Department dependent on the exploration companies for the supply of updated information, or do they simply react when requested for the information? It seems extraordinary that the media have information of vital national interest which we as public representatives do not. Does the Minister depend on exploration companies to provide information, or is there an arrangement whereby they must provide the data as soon as it comes to hand?
Companies are obliged under the licensing terms to supply all data from wells to the Department free of charge. Because of the commercial value of the data and the cost of its acquisition, the Department maintains the confidentiality of the data for a specified period. At the end of the relevant period the data are available for acquisition by other companies who may be interested.
Can the Minister tell us the terms for deciding the viability for a find? Is that assessed by the company carrying out the exploration? Does the Department have any role in deciding whether a find is commercially viable?
At the end of the day the companies who carry out the exploration make decisions in that regard. If data confirmed the basis of a commercial undertaking and the company who carried out the exploration was not prepared to go ahead, we would see if other people were interested in proceeding further. The whole thrust of policy is to increase the level in offshore exploration and to interest people in drilling. Attractive licensing terms are available. There will be some drilling this year but we would love to get back to the days where there was a lot of drilling.
In view of the Department's commitment to the provision of a gas interconnector which will guarantee security of supply, will there be a lessening of the Department's enthusiasm for discovering other gasfields off the coast?
Not at all. We are providing attractive licensing terms. If there is gas available it is in the national interest to find it and possibly use the interconnector to export rather than import gas when the Kinsale Head field has been exhausted.
