Hi all,
I am a bit confused with regard to this. Could somebody explain to me why the state and the Irish public not the sole owners of Corrib Gas Field? I find it hard to believe that this country has no rights or has given away its right to this natural resource off our coast. Could somebody enlighten me?
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A corrupt FF minister called Ray Burke singed a deal with them in the 80s thats why.
If there is a question about the legality of this deal that Ray Burke and Charles Haughey worked out with Shell and Statoil should there not be an investigation into it, considering the shady backgrounds of Burke and Haughey? I mean it's just doesn't seem possible that they would have given away billions for nothing?
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Im not sure about a state exploration company that would cost an absolute fortune!
But we should at least be getting royalites, at the moment we get ZERO from this.
He may have been corrupt, but he was doing no more than following what was then conventional wisdom regarding the possibilities of oil and gas off the west coast.
It was generally accepted at that time that there was very little likelihood of an economically viable discovery. At the time the only dissenting voice was a bloke called Pat Shannon (now UCD), but certainly the Petroleum Affairs Division had no reason to believe they were selling anything other than dry rock for a reasonable sum of money.
In the intervening 20 years, geology, and offshore drilling technology, has moved on quite a lot, and the deepwater fields off the west coast are a genuine prospect.
I don't think this one is down to corruption - it was a combination of conventional wisdom, lack of vision, and naivete.
Never let the best be the enemy of the good.
Originally Posted by Abaddon
There's no point in us owning it as such, as we wouldn't have the ability to extract the resources - therefore the rights have to be sold off to an international exploration company such as Shell. The question is whether our government got a good deal when they sold the exploration rights - and the answer would seem to be "no".
"Elite - a small superior group; esp one that has a power out of proportion to its size." (Oxford English Dictionary)
The majority cannot therefore be the elite.
Well we are getting a suply of Gas... eventually.
Essentially this is an argument between Nationalisation and Privitisation. Back in the 80's it was thoguht that Gas exploation in Ireland could only be achived by private companies with strong incentitives.
I think that still is the feeling today in Government. Ireland needs a good, clean supply of engergy over the coming years. The days of buring truf in Westmeath have to end.
If that supply can only be ensured by private companies, then I guess we will just have to live with it.
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
Oscar Wilde
Like I said state expploration would cost a fortune and we don't have the experts.
We should be getting royalities ala Norway tho.
Unfortunately, as in so many things, we followed the UK model. They get startlingly little from the North Sea.
The Norwegians had the cojones to say "only on our terms".
Never let the best be the enemy of the good.
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