Vol. 533 No. 1
30 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the discussions which have taken place between his Department, Marathon Oil and Statoil regarding the development of the Corrib gas field; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6295/01]
While my Department has had some discussions with Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Limited and Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Ltd., on the development of the Corrib gas field, all substantive discussions have been with Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited, which is the operator for the petroleum exploration licence covering the Corrib field.
Information and data concerning the proposed development of the field is submitted to my Department by the operator on an ongoing basis. Regular meetings are held with the operator on the development plans for Corrib.
Recently, having declared the field commercial, Enterprise Energy Ireland submitted information in support of an application for a petroleum lease with a view to its development. All three companies will be partners in the lease with Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited holding a 45% interest, Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Limited holding a 36.5% interest and Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Limited holding an 18.5% interest.
I expect to grant a petroleum lease shortly to the partners. Within two years of the grant of the petroleum lease, the lessee is required to submit a detailed plan of development for the field. This detailed plan of development must include information on the design, siting, construction, establishment, operation, abandonment and removal of any facilities for the production, processing, storage, or transportation of petroleum produced under the petroleum lease. An environmental impact statement is also required. Development work by EEI, acting for the partners, cannot begin until I have approved the plan of development and the environmental impact statement.
I thank the Minister for his reply and wish to focus on one element of it, that of transport from the field. As the sole Cabinet member from the west, the Minister has succeeded in ensuring that the gas pipeline will travel along the west coast down as far as Galway city. Have any discussions taken place between Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited and officials of his Department or the Minister regarding the extension of such a gas pipeline throughout the western region in light of the economic significance that would have and the fact that Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited has to apply to the Minister for a licence to carry out works on that field?
That is a separate issue. My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob, announced that in addition to the pipeline to which the Deputy referred serving the west, including Mayo and Galway, a separate development will also serve the north-west. It is the Government's intention to ensure a pipeline network is laid in the west and north west to serve, as far as possible, the major towns in that area. It is important to point out that every town in Ireland cannot be served with gas, as that would not be economic. Consequently, there must be an economic element to the provision of any pipeline. In the case of the north-west, the Government decided it will subsidise the provision a pipeline to the north-west to bring gas to that region and towns such as Castlebar, Claremorris, Tuam and Athenry will be served along a pipeline from Pollatomish to Craughwell.
I accept the point the Minister made that in many cases the extension of such pipelines are not economically viable and will have to be subsidised by the State. Will the Minister agree that for regions, especially the BMW region, to develop and attract industry, the potential for development does not exist unless there is access to gas? Will he agree that, since the Government has agreed to provide a pipeline to the north-west and to the west coast, the area in between, Roscommon to Sligo, should also be served? Will the Minister give a commitment to investigate the feasibility of doing that, even though it is not economically viable, and to extend gas to the regions, spanning Roscommon to Longford and over as far as Cavan, in the interest of developing those regions?
This is primarily a matter for the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob. The Government is committed to making gas available for major industrial infrastructure in the west and the north-west.
