Vol. 526 No. 5
33 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the latest information available to his Department with regard to the extent of the Corrib gas field off County Mayo; the independent information that is available to his Department as to the extent of the find; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26930/00]
Enterprise Energy Ireland completed a fourth appraisal well in the Corrib gas field in September. The company and their partners are currently assessing the results from this well in conjunction with data from previous appraisal wells with a view to determining the extent and characteristics of the reservoir.
All data and information relating to the field are submitted on an ongoing basis by the company to my Department. This data are analysed by my Department using inhouse expertise in conjunction with consultants. The Deputy will appreciate that all material associated with this assessment is commercially sensitive and therefore must remain confidential. However, I should point out that Enterprise Oil is reported as saying that the Corrib field might have in place recoverable reserves or more than one trillion cubic feet of gas. This compares to more than 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas produced to date from the Kinsale and Ballycotton gas fields. However, as I have already stated it is too early at this stage to give a precise figure for the size of the gas accumulation and the licensee will not be in a position to do so until they have fully evaluated the discovery. I expect Enterprise Energy Ireland and its partners to be in a position to decide on the commerciality of the Corrib field in the very near future.
