Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 14 Jun 2000

Vol. 521 No. 2

Written Answers. - Gas Find.

Proinsias De Rossa

Question:

38 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources when he expects a decision will be made as to whether the gas find in the Corrib Field will be declared commercial; the independent information available to him as to the extent of the find; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16674/00]

Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources (Mr. Fahey)

I expect Enterprise Oil and its partners to be in a position to decide on the commerciality of the Corrib Field in December of this year.

The final decision as to whether the field is commercial will depend on factors such as the volumes of gas in place, the quality of the reservoir, the quality of the gas, the flow rate of wells, market availability and price and the cost of the development. The size of the gas accumulation is being assessed at present.

Further appraisal drilling, aimed at trimming up on reservoir volumes, is currently being undertaken. If the results are such that the company can establish that the field is commercial then Enterprise Oil will apply to me forthwith for a petroleum lease with a view to its development. Should the field be declared commercial, my understanding from the company is that it would be their intention to have the field in production by early 2003.

All data and information relating to the field are submitted on an ongoing basis by the company to my Department. This data is analysed by my Department using in-house expertise in conjunction with consultants. The Deputy will appreciate that all material associated with this assessment is commercially sensitive and, therefore, must remain confidential. However, I should point out that Enterprise Oil is reported as saying that the Corrib Field might have in place recoverable reserves of more that one trillion cubic feet of gas. This compares to over 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas produced to date from the Kinsale and Ballycotton gas fields. However, as I have already stated it is too early at this stage to give a precise figure for the size of the gas accumulation and the licensee will not be in a position to do so until they have fully evaluated the discovery.