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) Limited about the development of the Corrib gas field, all substantive discussions have been with Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited, who are the operator for the Petroleum Exploration Licence covering the Corrib field.
Information and data concerning the proposed development of the field are 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 has 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.
