Is Ireland the New Saudi Arabia?
Wake-up! The recession that never was is over. Or it will be if our Government genuinely acts in the national interest on our oil and gas reserves.
Tom Prendeville, 10 Nov 2008
Economic forecasters and to a lesser extent Dáil Éireann politicians, would have us believe that we are facing into the economic equivalent of the Black Death. However nothing could be further from the truth: as a nation we are, in fact, fabulously rich. Or at least we should be.
According to no less an authority than the Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department of Communications & the Marine and Natural Resources, there are 10 billion barrels of oil lying off the west coast of Ireland, valued at an astonishing €700 billion (€70 per barrel).
The good news doesn’t end there: that ten billion barrels of oil is only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to oil, we have enough natural gas offshore, and inland, to supply most of Western Europe for decades to come.
Energy exports have the potential to transform Ireland into the Saudi Arabia of Europe and make the country rich for decades to come.
You think I’m making it up? A recently published scientific report by the Petroleum Affairs Division titled Atlantic Ireland, an Exciting Petroleum Province stated: “The potential is of at least ten billion barrels of oil. Well data indicate world-class source rocks. Volumeric assessment and expulsion modeling shows volumes of over 130 billion barrels of oil and 50 Trillion cubic feet of gas.”
According to Helen Chandler, a spokesperson for the Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources: “A recent regional assessment estimated resources in the Porcupine and Rockall Basins at ten billion barrels of oil. Estimates are based on comparisons with the geology of other regions with proven success.”
Most of the Irish oil and gas deposits have been pinpointed along an underwater ridge known as the Atlantic Margin, which runs parallel to the west coast of Ireland in a more or less straight line, before arcing off towards Scotland and the North Sea onwards to Scandinavia. This natural feature is where all the North Sea oil and gas was found.
To date the Atlantic Ridge hasn’t let anyone down. The Dunquin gas field which is 200 Km off the coast of Kerry contains an astonishing 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 4,130 million barrels of oil. Put into context, this alone would meet our gas needs – at present consumption levels – for the next 62 years.
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