MAOR urges Minister not to grant oil & gas exploration licences for the Rockall Basin

national | environment | press release

Wednesday May 06, 2009 06:53

by MAOR

donegal.maor at gmail dot com

Donegal and Derry based lobby group MAOR have urged the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan TD not to grant Frontier Exploration Licences for oil and gas exploration off the West Coast of Ireland.

Donegal and Derry based lobby group MAOR have urged the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan TD not to grant Frontier Exploration Licences for oil and gas exploration off the West coast of Ireland. In a letter to the Minister, members of MAOR expressed their “utter disbelief and dismay” at Mr Ryan’s opening of a new round of applications for Frontier Exploration Licences in the Rockall Basin.

The group stated that they feel Minister Ryan’s “decision to invite applications for new licences was untimely and inappropriate given the outstanding issues with the Corrib Gas field.” The MAOR members added “given the lack of meaningful benefits to the Irish State from the current licensing and fiscal terms (1992 and 2007), a new round of applications should not have been opened without public discussion with the people of Ireland.”

Minister Ryan opened the round of applications for Frontier Exploration Licences in the Rockall Basin in late 2008. This round was closed in April and the Minister has stated that he intends to make a decision on the received applications in June.

In their letter to Ryan, members of MAOR stated that “to grant these licences will essentially amount to an act of economic treason as if, and when, these licence holders eventually decide to begin commercial production in the Rockall basin, the Irish people stand to lose a potential source of hundreds of billions of euros worth of gas and oil.”

Citing a Petroleum Affairs Division report from February 2009, MAOR highlighted that accounts by the DCENR suggest that there is a potential 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent in basins west of Ireland. Given the fluctuating price in oil over the past year, the group estimated the value of this potential 10 barrels to range from €350 billion to €900 billion.

The letter writers maintained that the Irish state will not benefit from this asset, however, as for petroleum lease holders there is ‘no state participation or royalties; no signature or production bonuses; 25 % corporation tax; 0-15% Resource Rent Tax for the more profitable fields; and generous write-off provisions’ (Petroleum Affairs Division, February 2009). “The ‘generous write-off provisions your [Ryan’s] Department outlined is a mild understatement as companies can offset their costs against the tax rate meaning that they will have to pay little or no tax.”

If these Frontier Exploration Licences are granted, after which companies will complete their period of exploration and may be granted a petroleum lease by the DCENR, “we the Irish people will see very few benefits from the potential hundreds of billions worth of our hydrocarbons. This is an outrage when on one hand the Government is cutting back on essential services and on the other, they are freely giving away the rights to hundreds of billions of euros. To add further insult to injury, we the Irish people are not even guaranteed a supply of our own resources and will have to pay full market prices for our oil and gas” maintained the group.

The group implored Minister Ryan “not to take the drastic step of granting further Frontier Exploration Licences in the Rockall Basin, or any other offshore area. Furthermore, we appeal to you to put a moratorium on all exploration licences and petroleum leases until the Government establishes licensing and fiscal terms which result in real benefits for the Irish State.”

“We believe that the Government must develop a new system of licensing and fiscal terms in active consultation with the Irish people and subject to a public referendum. The give-away of Irish gas and oil has continued for far too long and has resulted in many negative outcomes for the Irish people. Enough is enough and before more communities suffer, we urge you to take the first step in rectifying the situation by not granting further Frontier Exploration Licences” concluded members of MAOR.

save preference

Comments (3 of 3)

A MAJOR QUESTION FOR RYAN TO ANSWER.

by old codger - pensioner

Wed May 06, 2009 12:00

What will minister Ryan do when Shell and the other oil companies tell him that the state taxes are too high and they can sell their OIL and GAS in foriegn markets for greater profit?
They can legally claim that the Irish Government gave the OIL and GAS to them for nothing.
THE GREENS ARE CONTINUING THE FIANNA FAIL CRIME.
Fianna Fail caused this crime and Fine Gail are silent, Labour is wimpering and they are all looking for your votes.
Is it any wonder that the country is going down the road of returning to slavery. This time it will be multinational as well as british who will be our masters.
Who is to blame?-==THE SILENT PUBLIC AND MEDIA. We have allowed political criminals to corrupt this country, now we are letting them bring in Hungarian-Romanian fascist thugs to violently assault peacefull Irish citizens that only seek truth and justice and the protection of their childrens health and future.
TERRY DOWNES and JAMES FARRELL are traitors to their country for this crime and should be treated as such. Are Irish thugs not evil enough for their purposes?
OH I FORGOT WE ARE ALL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION NOW. The union that will ensure that its people's civil rights will be protected.
LISBON TWO GIVE IT THE SHOE.
We need a Union of HONESTY, TRUTH AND JUSTICE. Present the people with with a treaty that contains these basic aspirations and we can all agree.
They all ignore the political crimes that are happening in Rossport, and allow the Irish Government to deny the people the right of United Nations ( Aarhus Convention ) International law.
BRING YOUR ANGER TO THE POLITICAL TRAITORS.

Norwegian Experience.

by Viking.

Wed May 06, 2009 13:03

If Ireland had copied Norway it would be sitting pretty like Norway is now.

In May of 1963, Norway asserted sovereign rights over natural resources in its sector of the North Sea. Exploration started on July 19, 1966, when Ocean Traveler drilled its first well. Initial exploration was fruitless, until Ocean Viking found oil on August 21, 1969. By the end of 1969, it was clear that there were large oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. The first oil field was Ekofisk, produced 427,442 barrels of crude in 1980. Since then, large natural gas reserves have also been discovered.

The IMF places it third (and World Bank places it second) only to Luxembourg in wealth.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

"When god made Norway he made the most beautiful country in the world.
But the job was only half finished.
He finished the job when he put the Norwegians in charge of it."
....Goethe.

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/photos/uncategorized/...d.jpg
.
.

The Big Players.

by Grainnuaile.

Wed May 06, 2009 13:27

Roadmap of the enemy...the big oil companies:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Big_...l.svg
.
There are nearly as many people working for Shell (112,000) as the entire population of Mayo (Pop. 124,000).

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

MAOR urges Minister not to grant oil & gas exploration licences for the Rockall Basin

Comments (3 of 3)