Michael Ring
Question:94 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the plans he has to re-examine the terms and conditions for future offshore exploration deals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12665/01]
Written Answers - Offshore Exploration.
The current licensing terms were very carefully designed and introduced in 1992 to compensate for Ireland's disadvantage in terms of perceived prospectivity and operating conditions and to encourage interest in exploration and development.
Only two exploration wells have been drilled in the Irish offshore in the last three years, despite the existence of the 1992 terms and there are 20 offshore exploration licences in place at present compared to a peak of 32 in 1997. Furthermore, a number of exploration companies granted licences under a licensing round in 1997 have indicated their intention to relinquish these licences this year.
The fact remains that Irish prospectivity is low and is not comparable with our oil producing neighbours. We have only had three successful exploration wells out of 123 wells in 30 years. Over the same period the United Kingdom has drilled about 3,000 wells of which about 250 are in production.
In the light of these factors, I believe that it is premature to consider changing our terms but I intend to keep them under continuing review taking account of the level of, and results from, ongoing exploration activity.
Michael Ring
Question:95 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the target depth of Enterprise Energy Ireland on the exploration well 5/22-1; the way in which they reached their target depth, that is, the distance they drilled, from the sea bed down; if they ran wireline tests with slumberJ or its equivalent on the west Navion; the size of casing they ran; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12666/01]
In the case of exploration well 5/22-1, the operator, Enterprise Energy Ireland Limited, EEIL, submitted an application for approval to drill to my Department's petroleum affairs division, PAD, the regulatory body for petroleum exploration and production operations onshore and offshore. When PAD was satisfied with the drilling programme proposed and all other State requirements had been met relating to safety, emergency preparedness, pollution control and preparedness, navigation warnings etc., approval was given for drilling the well.
During the course of the drilling operations, the technical section – professional petroleum specialists – in PAD received and analysed daily drilling and geological reports and copies of all data acquired during the operations. EEIL sought approval to plug and abandon the well which was given once my Department was satisfied to do so. In following this process, this well was treated like every other Irish exploration well.
Regulatory approval for any well is dependent on an exploration programme satisfactory to my Department, with specific agreement required on the well objectives, well location, target depth and evaluation programme, which always involves the running of suites of wireline logs by one contractor or another.
Approval to plug and abandon a well given by my Department is based on the technical evaluation by PAD of the data acquired during the drilling operations, and is given only when they are satisfied that the agreed objectives have been achieved and the agreed evaluation programme has been carried out.
As regards the well 5/22-1 data, I am obliged, under the licensing terms, to keep specific information about offshore operations confidential for prescribed periods of time. Data requested by the Deputy, which I have already released about the 5/22-1 well, and which I make available for all wells, is as follows:
EEIL fulfilled an agreed total depth obligation, required as a condition of approval of the drilling operation by PAD:
|
TD (Total Depth) of well: |
4,070 mBRT (below rotary table) |
|
RTE (Rotary Table Elevation): |
36 m |
|
Water depth: |
1,623 m |
So thickness of section penetrated below seabed was 2,411 m.
A full suite of wireline logs were obtained by a commercial contractor, name irrelevant, in accordance with the evaluation programme agreed between the operator and PAD. Wireline logs are an intrinsic element in the evaluation of all wells.
The casing programme was carried out as planned. Casing has no direct relevance to evaluation of a well; it is run in all wells as a standard part of their construction to ensure that the hole does not collapse. It has been the practice to release the size and depths at which casing is run in exploration wells.