The Kinsale Head gas field is a depleted offshore

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 ...

in the

Celtic Sea The Celtic Sea ; cy, Y Môr Celtaidd ; kw, An Mor Keltek ; br, Ar Mor Keltiek ; french: La mer Celtique is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel; other limits includ ...

, located off the southern coast of

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Discovered in 1971 near the

Old Head of Kinsale The Old Head of Kinsale () is a headland near Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. A castle has been on the headland since at least the 3rd century, with the current iteration built in 1223. An early lighthouse was established here in the 17th centur ...

, it met Ireland's gas needs until 1996. The gas field is located in a water depth of 100 metres and 1,000 metres below the seabed. The field extends over Blocks 49/16, 48/20, 48/25, 49/21. The reservoir is a Lower Cretaceous sandstone (Wealden and Greensand) lying at a depth of 2,700 to 3,100 feet. The gas composition was >99% methane with a calorific value of 1.012 Btu/ cubic foot. Operator Kinsale Energy Limited extracted its last commercial quantity of gas on 5 July 2020, after which they ceased production. Decommissioning works began immediately afterwards and are expected to conclude in 2023. These works will include the removal of both

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

s. During its 42 years in operation, the Kinsale gas field produced an estimated 2 trillion cubic feet (57 billion cubic metres) of natural gas. A

floating wind turbine A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible. Floating wind farms have the potential to signi ...

project is under development for the area.

History

Marathon Oil's Irish subsidiary Marathon Petroleum Ireland Ltd., started exploring for oil off the south coast of Ireland and in 1971 instead of finding oil, gas was found off the Old Head of Kinsale by the drill ship ''Glomar North Sea''. The discovery was confirmed as being commercially viable. Bord Gáis Éireann was established in 1975 and confirmed by the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

in 1976 under The Gas Act (1976) as the supplier and distributor of gas in Ireland. Gas came on stream in 1978. The field was developed through two offshore installations. The process plant comprises a gas/liquid separator, gas is dehydrated in a glycol dehydrator. Production of gas (in million cubic feet) was:Peak production occurred in 1995. In 2008, the gas field was proposed as a potential place for the purpose of

carbon dioxide capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

. A number of small fields now feed the Kinsale Head platforms including Ballycotton (discovered 1991), Southwest Kinsale (1999) and Seven Heads (2003). Southwest Kinsale was later used for gas storage, primarily for the winter months. These subsea completions are summarized in the following table.

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian oil and gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with all oil and gas reso ...

acquired Marathon's Irish operation in 2009. The nearby discovery at

Barryroe ''Barryroe'' is an undeveloped oil and gas field discovered in the Atlantic ocean due south of County Cork, Ireland. Close to the exhausted Kinsale Head gas field The Kinsale Head gas field is a depleted offshore natural gas field in the Cel ...

is controlled by

Providence Resources Providence Resources is an Irish oil and gas exploration company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange. Its primary activities are the exploration and development of hydrocarbons offshore Ireland and the United K ...

References

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