Willie Penrose
Question:35 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the current commercial value of an oilfield in Irish territorial waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22332/97]
Written Answers - Oil Exploration.
The commercial value of an oilfield in the Irish Continental Shelf would depend on many factors, including: (i) the size of the field; (ii) the amount of oil technically recoverable; (iii) the productibility of the field; (iv) the nature of the oil; (v) duration of production; (vi) the distance of the field from land; (vii) the depth of water where it is located; (viii) the capital expenditure costs involved in bringing the field into production; (ix) operating expenditure costs; (x) the market price for oil (and associated gas) during the life of the field; (xi) cost of money; and (xii) Corporation Tax.
A present there are no oilfields in production in the Irish offshore and as no two oil fields are the same, it would not be possible to put a commercial value on a field which could be discovered in our offshore.
An oil discovery of current interest is the Helvick Field off the Waterford coast. A lease undertaking in respect of the field is held by Providence Resources plc. The field is small and estimated to contain six million barrels of oil which are technically recoverable. The manner in which the field might be brought into commercial production is currently being addressed by Providence in consultation with my Department.