RE: Europa unhappy with the Irish Energy Minister Ryan16 Oct 2022 12:30
Europa Oil and Gas, which owns a gas field off the west coast, has accused Eamon Ryan of “potentially misleading” an Oireachtas committee by making “inaccurate” statements on the indigenous gas exploration sector earlier this year.
Brian Ó Catháin, the chairman of Europa, said Ryan, the energy and climate change minister, had incorrectly told politicians at a meeting in August that he had met with industry representatives.
He also highlighted what he claimed were a number of inaccuracies in the minister’s comments on the likelihood of finding more gas in Ireland, including that such a prospect was remote and would not be deliverable in a timely manner even if such a discovery was made.
In a letter sent last week to Brian Leddin, the chair of the Oireachtas committee on environment and climate action, Ó Catháin said he hoped his comments would be considered in the context of “the crisis of energy security” Ireland was facing.
“Against the backdrop of an energy security crisis, to ignore the current and potential future contribution of indigenous gas makes no sense. We call on the minister to meet with the industry and to recognise the potential contribution of indigenous Irish gas,” he wrote.
Europa, a London-listed energy firm which owns the Inishkea gas field off the west coast of the country, has been looking for an extension to its exploration licence on the field since March.
The licence expired at the end of July, but it is understood the company has been told by Ryan’s department that it remains live while the application for an extension remains live. Ó Catháin noted this in his correspondence to Leddin in the interest of “full disclosure”.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment said she could not comment on the status of the application.
During his appearance before the committee on August 30, Ryan said: “Of the 160 or 170 times we have drilled at real expense for hydrocarbons, we found them to be commercial three or four times. The easier and more obvious sites have been picked so everything after this is a 50:1 outside bet, hugely expensive and is not the future. It does not give us security and is not likely to deliver gas or oil any time soon.”
In the letter, which was delivered to Leddin late last week, Ó Catháin said the statement was inaccurate “on a number of counts”.
He said indigenous gas from the Corrib gas field currently provided 33 per cent of Ireland’s current gas needs, and the country’s security of supply would be further improved if more gas finds were made.
The majority of the more than 160 attempts at finding gas were made decades ago with worse equipment and in shallow water off the coast of Cork rather than off the west coast, he said, adding that geologists and engineers estimate the likely chance of finding commercial gas in fields adjacent to Corrib, where Inishkea is, to be between 25 per cent to 33 per cent.
(Continued 1/2)
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