May 28th, 2019
The Department of Climate Action granted consent for an exploratory oil and gas well off the Kerry coast yesterday just as the election green wave hit Ireland.
The Department (DCCAE) received an application last November from CNOOC Petroleum Europe – a subsidiary of the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company – and ExxonMobil for permission to drill an exploratory well in the Porcupine Basin area.
The proposed well falls within a 1,300 km2 area where CNOOC and ExxonMobil
Exploration and Production Ireland (Offshore South) Ltd already have a frontier
exploration licence that runs until February 2033.
The DCCAE recently ran a press notice in the Irish
Independent, revealing its intention to grant the exploratory
licence to CNOOC and ExxonMobil in line with the country’s Petroleum and Other
Minerals Development Act of 1960.
In a letter sent yesterday to CNOOC Petroleum Europe ltd,
the Department confirmed that the Minister of State with responsibility for
Natural Resources Séan Canney TD has now granted consent for CNOOC to undertake
drilling activities at the propose site.
Mr Canney has also consented to the placing of a temporary
well head and associated infrastructure on the seabed, with the decision open
to legal challenge via judicial review proceedings for the following three
months.
The letter states that the development of Ireland’s
indigenous oil and gas resources has the potential to “deliver significant and
sustained benefits” in securing an indigenous energy supply over imports,
economic development and financial return.
People Before Profit’s Brid Smith has previously told The Green News that granting the license
would be “a slap in the face to climate movement”.
“Despite the rhetoric, despite the PR and spin it shows this Government
does not get climate change and doesn’t understand what is happening, this
latest licence round is a slap in the face of both the movement in Ireland and
the global movement on climate,” she said.
Yesterday, Ciaran Cuffe became the first Green Party member
to be elected to the European Parliament in over 15 years.
“I think today and this weekend shows that young people want to see change, they have spoken to their parents and grandparents and I think the people have voted for an alternative to business as usual,” he said.
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