Corrib Gas Field

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The Corrib Gas Field is a natural gas deposit off the northwest coast of Ireland. It is located about 80 km off Erris Head in County Mayo in water depths of 355 metres. The natural gas field, discovered in 1996, is the first commercial natural gas discovery in Ireland since the Kinsale gas field in 1973. It will produce gas from Triassic strata. The field is a conventure of Shell E&P Ireland (operator 45%), Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Limited (36.5%), and Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Limited (18.5%). Reserves in the field are believed to be around 1 trillion ft³ (70% the volume of the Kinsale field). It is proposed to develop the Corrib Field as a sub sea production facility with onshore processing. This method of development is claimed by Shell to be in line with best industry practice for gas fields of this type. However, many people are concerned about the health, safety and environmental impact of the onshore aspects of the scheme.

1 Project proposal
2 Problems
3 Safety Review
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Project proposal

There are essentially four parts to the proposed Corrib project:

the offshore operations including the wells and subsea facilities
the offshore section of the pipeline
the onshore section of the pipeline
the gas processing plant at Bellanaboy Bridge, Co. Mayo.

[edit] Problems

On the date of29 June 2005, five local landowners, the "Rossport Five", were jailed after being held in contempt of court for breaking a High Court injunction stoping them from blocking site access.These five men are: James Brendan Philbin, brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff and Micheál Ó Seighin. Demonstrations took place around the country in the support of the men and the issue was raised in the national parliament, the Oireachtas. After spending 94 days in Cloverhill Prison, they were released on 30 September 2005, when Shell applied to the High Court to have the injunction lifted.

The Shell To Sea campaign continues to call for the route of the pipeline to be changed as well as the location of the refinery. Rossport Solidarity Camp is located on the landfall of the proposed pipeline, on the beach at Glengad at the request of residents of Rossport, opposing the construction of a high pressure gas pipeline and inland gas refinery in their area.

[edit] Safety Review

The Irish Government Minister of Energy, Noel Dempsey, commissioned an Independent Safety Review of the pipeline. The review was strongly criticised by those opposed to the project. The authors of the review, Advantica, Said that:

“Proper consideration will be given to safety issues in the selection process for the preferred design option and the locations of the landfall, pipeline route and terminal”

Also

“Provided that it will be demonstrated that the pressure in the onshore pipeline will be limited effectively, and that the recommendations made somewhere else in this report are followed, we (Advantica) believe that there will be a massive safety margin in the pipeline design, and the pipeline design and proposed route should be accepted as meeting or exceeding international standards in terms of acceptability of risk and international best practice for high pressure pipelines.”