There were 25 petroleum exploration licences granted since 2001; of these, 16 are still active. Oil and gas discoveries have been made in respect of four of these licences to date. Three of the discoveries were in the North Celtic Sea Basin and one in the Slyne Basin. None of the discoveries have been declared commercial to date. Applications for lease undertakings in respect of two of the discoveries in the Celtic Sea are under consideration by my Department at present.
With regard to non-petroleum minerals, 714 mineral prospecting licences were issued since 2001 and of these, 517 are still active. Details of these licences can be found in the six-monthly report to the Oireachtas, which I am obliged to lay before the Houses under the Minerals Development Acts 1940 to 1999. This report is also available on my Department's website.
While no new commercially viable deposits of non-petroleum minerals have been discovered in the past ten years, there have been some encouraging results, particularly in Counties Limerick and Clare. However, it is too early to determine whether these results will lead to identification of commercially viable deposits or to estimate the economic benefits that might accrue.
