Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1318. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated yield from oil and gas deposits by barrel and price; and the likelihood of finding deposits in each field in terms of a ratio, for example, a 30 to 1 chance and so on. [1815/18]
View answerTo date one hundred and sixty exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled in the Irish Offshore and have resulted in four commercial gas discoveries (Kinsale Head, Ballycotton, Seven Heads, in the Kinsale area, and Corrib gas fields) but no commercial oil discoveries. Proven reserves for these gas fields total approximately three trillion cubic feet, comprising approximately two trillion cubic feet in the Kinsale Area gas fields and approximately one trillion cubic feet at the Corrib gas field.
While petroleum authorisation holders may generate their own resource estimates for their prospects, these are unproven volumes and are only an estimate of what might be present, based on the available geological and geophysical data. The only way to accurately estimate the yield for each prospect is by drilling wells to determine firstly, if hydrocarbons are present and secondly, to calculate the volumes of hydrocarbons contained in each prospect. Most of the prospects contained in currently licensed acreage are undrilled.
