The Corrib
Gas Field is a reserve of natural gas
situated 80 km off the west coast of
County Mayo containing at least 1
trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural
gas. The Corrib Gas Project, directed by
a consortium of companies led by Royal
Dutch Shell, seeks to bring the gas
ashore at Glengad in the Barrony of
Erris in North West Mayo and to pump the
unrefined gas 9km inland through an
inhabited area to a refinery located on
a boggy hill where it would be cleaned
and depressurized for sale and export.
The Corrib Gas Field is a reserve of
natural gas situated 80 km off the west
coast of County Mayo containing 11
trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural
gas. The gas field was discovered in
1996 by Enterprise Oil, operating in a
consortium with Saga Petroleum.
Enterprise Oil drilled appraisal wells
in 1998 and declared the field
commercial in early 2001. In 1998 the
Corrib Enterprise Oil consortium
employed consultants to survey the
Connacht coast to find a suitable place
to bring the gas ashore. The Enterprise
Consortium sought a site to build a gas
terminal and in 2003 they purchased
400km2 of state forestry land from
Coillte the state forestry agency.
The
development concept which the Enterprise
Oil Consortium had selected for the
Corrib Gas was that of a land based
refinery. Instead of processing the gas
at sea, the consortium intends to pump
high pressure raw gas to an
unprecedented inland refinery where it
would be processed for sale and
consumption. The design concept of an
inland refinery was drawn up to
facilitate the further exploitation of
Ireland’s offshore oil and gas reserves.
No other development models were
meaningfully explored by the Corrib
consortium, nor did the relevant
government authorities ask the
consortium to seriously examine other
models. The main work on the ground
began at the refinery site in spring
2005. Preparatory work began at the and
attempts were being made to stake out
the route of the pipeline.
All the
problems regarding environmental and
community concerns result from the
refinery location. A recent petition of
the 1200 Kilcommon residents clearly
showed that the majority do not support
the project in its current form. Even
Shell's Andy Pyle has admitted that
'this project cannot proceed without
local consent'. But we are not against
the gas and its not too late to explore
the solutions that have so far being
ignored. Refining the gas at Ballinaboy
is utterly senseless on so many levels.
The words of An Bord Plenala's Senior
Planning Inspector, Kevin Moore, ring
true now more than ever : 'This is the
wrong site'.
Due to
Shell 'project splitting' the Corrib
development, which in itself is highly
questionable under EU Directives, the
refinery has just started to be
constructed before the pipeline route
has even been announced, let alone
approved. However it is not too late and
there are in fact solutions and
alternatives that have so far been
ignored.
