The Corrib gas project ( ga, Tionscanamh Ghás Aiceanta na Coiribe) is a developed
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
deposit located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately off the northwest coast of
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
, Ireland. The project includes a natural gas pipeline and an onshore gas processing plant, which commenced gas production in 2015. During its development, the project attracted
considerable opposition.
The Corrib field is Ireland's only domestic source of natural gas production.
History
The deepwater exploration licence No. 2/93 covering four blocks in the Slyne Trough was granted on 1 January 1993 for a period of 11 years to
Enterprise Oil
Enterprise Oil was a major UK independent exploration and production company based in Europe, with core areas of activity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, mainland Europe, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. The Company was once a constituent of the ...
and its partners
Saga Petroleum Ireland Limited,
Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Limited, and
Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Limited. The licence was issued under the licensing terms for offshore oil and gas exploration and development 1992. The Corrib
natural gas field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations.
Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...
was discovered in 1996. It was the first reported commercial natural gas discovery in Ireland since the
Kinsale Head gas field
The Kinsale Head gas field is a depleted offshore natural gas field in the Celtic Sea, located off the southern coast of County Cork, Ireland. Discovered in 1971 near the Old Head of Kinsale, it met Ireland's gas needs until 1996. The gas field i ...
was discovered in 1971.
[
][
] The first appraisal well was drilled in 1997.
A number of consents and approvals to develop the Corrib Project were issued in 2001.
[
In 2002, Enterprise Oil was acquired by ]Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
who took over the operatorship of the project. Development of the project began in 2004, but it was delayed in 2005 when locals opposed the project. Shell announced the suspension of the project to facilitate further discussions with opposing parties. For a year, independent safety reviews were conducted to address various safety concerns in relation to the project.
In 1999, Saga Petroleum became a part of a Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world an ...
and in 2007 a part of Statoil. In July 2009, Vermilion Energy acquired Marathon Oil's stake in the project.
Until 2018, Royal Dutch Shell was the operator of the project with a 45% ownership stake.[ In 2018, Shell sold its share of the project to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. As part of the transaction, Vermilion Energy became the project's operator and expanded its ownership share to 20%. In 2021, Vermilion acquired ]Equinor
Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. I ...
's 36.5% stake for $434 million (€382 million), becoming the majority owner of the gas field.
Development
Royal Dutch Shell proposed to develop the Corrib field as a sub-sea production facility with onshore processing. The project included development of offshore installations, including the wells and subsea facilities, construction of offshore and onshore pipelines, and construction of onshore processing plant at Bellanaboy.
Gas field
The Corrib gas field is located about off Erris Head
Erris Head (Irish: ''Ceann Iorrais'') is a promontory at the northernmost tip of the Mullet Peninsula, located in the barony of Erris in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is a well known and recognised landmark used by mariners and weather fo ...
in County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
, in an area known as the Slyne Trough The Slyne-Erris Trough is a geological basin off the west coast of Donegal, Ireland.
In recent years it has been shown to be prospective for hydrocarbons, hosting Royal Dutch Shell Corrib gas field (discovered by Enterprise Oil, bought by Shell), ...
in water depths of .[
] Reserves in the field are believed to be about , 70% of the volume of the Kinsale field. The gas originates from a Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
Sandstone reservoir below the seabed. The natural gas in the Corrib Gas Field is a very pure form of gas, consisting of approximately 97% methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...
and ethane
Ethane ( , ) is an organic chemical compound with chemical formula . At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas. Like many hydrocarbons, ethane is isolated on an industrial scale from natural gas and as a petr ...
. The Corrib gas does not contain hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...
and carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
makes up only 0.3% of the total amount of gas.
[.
]
There are five production wells at the Corrib field, drilled by Transocean
Transocean Ltd. is an American company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Vernier, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, Norway, United ...
Sedco 711 semi-submersible
Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as:
*Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport
*Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface
*Se ...
drilling rig. Each well has a "christmas tree" structure above it that contains the control and monitoring equipment. This subsea production system was constructed by Vetco
Vetco was established in July 2004 and operated through its subsidiaries Vetco Gray and Vetco Aibel AS. Vetco was the result of a consortium consisting of the private equity firms Candover, 3i and JP Morgan Partners taking over ABB's oil and g ...
, the offshore drilling and production supplier. Flexible individual flowlines will run from each well to a production manifold which will feed the gas into the main pipeline. There is no production platform installed in the field. Production at the gas field is remotely controlled from the Bellanaboy Bridge terminal.
Pipeline
The pipeline from the Corrib field to the landfall at Glengad
Glengad () is a Gaeltacht village in the parish of Kilcommon in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is also known as Dooncarton (), a name which comes from an Iron Age tribal chieftain called Ciortan, a character who appears in the Ulster Cycle l ...
is approximately 90 km in length. The pipeline has a diameter of and it operates at pressures of . Work on the offshore section took place in summer 2009 and involved over 7,000 lengths of pipe being welded together on board the Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...
pipelaying vessel.[
][
] The onshore pipeline is in length and runs from landfall to the processing plant.
Processing plant
Gas is processed at the processing plant inland, near Bellanaboy Bridge. The purpose of the plant is to dry the gas and remove impurities. The plant has a capacity of 10 million standard cubic metres of purified gas per day. Processed gas is fed to the Bord Gáis
Cucerdea ( hu, Oláhkocsárd, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi'').
The commune is located in the sout ...
gas grid. The piping for the onshore processing plant was manufactured by Phoenix Pipes Limited in Slane, Co. Meath.
Controversy
Some opponents of the scheme cited concerns about the health, safety and environmental impact of the onshore aspects of the project. Others were concerned with alleged irregularities and precedents surrounding the project. Many groups, most notably the Rossport Five
The Rossport Five ( ga, Cúigear Ros Dumhach) are Willie Corduff, brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and James Brendan Philbin, from Kilcommon parish, Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. In 2005, they were jailed for civil contem ...
and Shell to Sea
Shell to Sea ( ga, Shell chun Sáile) is an Irish organisation based in the parish of Kilcommon in Erris, County Mayo.
It opposes the proposed construction of a natural gas Gas pipeline, pipeline through the parish, as well as the ongoing const ...
campaigns, opposed the current plans for the project, which they regarded as dangerous despite assurances from Shell.
A contrary position is taken by the group Pro Gas Mayo
Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional".
Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to:
People
* Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest
* Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter
* Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...
.
A film about the project, '' The Pipe'', was released on 8 July 2010 at the Galway Film Festival.
Safety and environmental concerns
Pipeline route
The upstream high pressure gas pipeline connecting the wells to the inland processing site runs through the area of Rossport
Rossport ( ga, Ros Dumhach; also known as ''Rosdoagh'') is a Gaeltacht village and townland in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is within the barony of Erris and parish of Kilcommon. It lies close to the mouth of Broadhaven Bay on the headl ...
, close to local residences. A report by Dr. Richard Kupriewicz concluded that "the terrain makes escape routes for the clustered population essentially impossible in the event of a ipelinerupture".
Discharges from drying process
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay ( ga, Cnocán na Líne) is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching 8.6 km between Erris Head in the west and Kid Island/Oileá ...
is the proposed area to discharge waste from the refining process
Planning problems
Planning permission was initially refused by the board of An Bord Pleanála
(; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...
(the Irish planning authority). Senior planning inspector Kevin Moore's report stated in part:
In November 2009, An Bord Pleanála ordered Shell to redesign the pipeline and move its route away from homes saying it posed an "unacceptable risk".
Tax
Claims of a tax yield of some €1.7 billion over the life of the field have been made by the Irish government, based on data about the field's size and 2008 gas prices. Until 2007, the Irish Petroleum Licensing Terms imposed a flat 25% income tax on gas production revenues. In August 2007, the top rate of tax on the most profitable fields was increased to 40%.[
]
The new licensing terms called for changes to the tax imposed based upon fields' profit ratios (equal to the rate of profit
In economics and finance, the profit rate is the relative profitability of an investment project, a capitalist enterprise or a whole capitalist economy. It is similar to the concept of rate of return on investment.
Historical cost ''vs.'' market ...
less 25% divided by the accumulated level of capital investment). Where this ratio is greater than 4.5, an additional 15% tax was imposed, where it is between 3.0 and 4.5 an additional 10% was imposed and where the profit ratio is between 1.5 and 3.0, and additional 5% tax was added. Less profitable fields were not affected.
Employment
The construction of the pipeline and plant was expected by Shell's economic consultants, Goodbody Economic Consultants, to create 800 temporary jobs and boost the local Mayo economy by approximately €181 million. The plant was expected by Shell to employ approximately 55 workers when operational.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Trailer for 'The Pipe' released 8 July 2010 - Galway Film Festival
'Pipe Down' film - winner - Waterford Film Festival 2010
Project Website
Corrib Gas Pipeline
Centre For Public Inquiry's review of events surrounding the Corrib gas project
Technical details of proposed pipeline from Accufacts Inc.
Mayo Gas Info
Bitter dispute over gas pipeline
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