I propose to take Questions Nos. 221 to 238, inclusive, together.
Exploration for oil and gas in Ireland, in common with most other jurisdictions, is carried out under licence from the State. Petroleum exploration authorisations are issued under the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960 and the operational framework is set out in the Licensing Terms for Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, Development & Production 2007.
Recent assessments of yet-to-find potential based on a Petroleum Systems Analysis of the Rockall and Porcupine Basins indicate a total reserve potential in the order of 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent (oil and/or gas) for the offshore frontier basins west of Ireland. This divides roughly into 6.5 billion barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. I must emphasise that these figures only represent ‘potential' reserves, or the reserves that might be present based on geological criteria and regional comparisons, and that they have not been discovered. Actual reserve figures are likely to vary widely from these estimates and will not be known without a dramatic increase in the level of exploration activity. The Petroleum Systems Analysis of the Rockall and Porcupine Basins Offshore Ireland (Digital Atlas and accompanying GIS version) is a commercial report available to the industry at a cost of €25,000.
The primary purpose of the assessments was to highlight the existence of significant hydrocarbon potential in the Irish offshore area in order to encourage increased activity by the exploration sector in areas receiving very little attention because of low perceived success rates, high exploration costs and long lead in times required to develop any discovery. There are no comparable assessments available for the reserve potential of remaining offshore and onshore basins as the geological complexity of those areas, where smaller sized discoveries can be expected, makes it much more difficult to generate meaningful estimates. Petroleum exploration investment is encouraged through the active promotion of Ireland's petroleum potential and the holding of regular licensing rounds. The 2011 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round, which includes all of Ireland's major Atlantic sedimentary basins with proven petroleum systems, is due to close on 31 May 2011. Based on experience to date, I expect that the majority of applications for the Round will be received on or immediately before the closing date for the competition.
There are seven standard exploration and fourteen frontier exploration licences active in the Irish offshore. Exploration activities under these licences are divided into a number of phases with each phase subject to the performance of an agreed work programme including detailed reporting and the release of exploration data and evaluation reports to my Department. When each phase of the licence is complete, the licensees must determine whether they want to proceed to the next phase or whether they wish to relinquish the acreage.
Where a prospect is identified and positively evaluated, an exploration well needs to be drilled before the presence of hydrocarbon resources could be determined. If an exploration well shows that hydrocarbons are present, additional work, which may include one or more appraisal wells, is required to estimate the quantities of recoverable hydrocarbons and to determine if the discovery is commercial. If a commercial discovery is made, the licensee must apply for a petroleum lease in order to proceed to the development and production stage. Where a discovery is made and the licensee is not in a position to declare the discovery commercial by the end of the licence period, but expects to be able to do so in the foreseeable future, the licensee may apply for a lease undertaking.
My Department is currently considering applications for two lease undertakings relating to exploration licences in the Celtic Sea, however at this stage it is not known whether these or any of the other nineteen active exploration licences will result in commercially extractable finds of hydrocarbons. There are no applications for petroleum leases before my Department at present. The Corrib Gas Field is the only discovery covered by a petroleum lease and not yet in production.
The potential value of any commercial petroleum discovery will depend on a combination of factors including, the volume of recoverable resources, the cost of developing and operating the infrastructure, the price of petroleum over the life of the field, together with the timing and profile of production.
Turning to the onshore area, there are currently no petroleum prospecting licences in place. Following a detailed evaluation of applications received last year for licensing options in the Northwest Carboniferous Basin and the Clare Basin, my Department has offered onshore petroleum licensing options to: Tamboran Resources PTY Ltd covering 986 sq km over parts of Cavan, Leitrim and Sligo; Lough Allen Natural Gas Company Ltd covering 467 sq km over parts Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo; and Enegi Oil Plc covering 495 sq km over part of Clare. Two of the companies have already accepted the licensing options on offer and applications for petroleum prospecting licences are expected from both companies shortly. Maps detailing the area covered by the onshore licensing options are available on my Department's website.
In relation to exploration drilling that might take place in the Irish offshore over the next twelve months, while my Department is aware that plans are being advanced for exploration or appraisal drilling, no application for approval has been received by my Department to date. I would expect that over the next few months greater certainty will emerge in relation to potential drilling.
In relation to the Deputy's query regarding the status of certain exploration licences, I can confirm that Frontier Exploration Licences 2/05 and 2/06 were relinquished with effect from 30 October 2010 and 31 August 2010 respectively. Standard Exploration 3/07 was relinquished with effect from 31 March 2010.
I am separately forwarding by post to the Deputy a table that details the eighteen significant hydrocarbon discoveries made on and offshore Ireland to date. The inclusion of that table in the body of this reply was not possible for technical reasons. The table includes details of petroleum authorisations currently in place along with details of the original discovery authorisation. Full details of petroleum authorisations are updated and published on my Department's website on a regular basis. I hope that the comprehensive information provided is of assistance to the Deputy.