May 2012

Stopping Shell, moving camp & dragging pallets!

Friday 4th May Day of Solidarity successfully stopped all Shell haulage for the day. Once folks were satisfied that Shell wasn't going to try and do any haulage, they went to the Rossport Solidarity Camp to start taking down structures and move the camp

THE IRISH Offshore Operators’ Association has expressed concern at an Oireachtas committee’s recommendation that large oil or gas finds could be taxed at 80 per cent of profits.

Such a rate would be comparable to or higher than Norway, which has “an established industry, a high rate of commercial discoveries and which refunds 78 per cent of the cost of unsuccessful exploration”, the association said in a statement yesterday.

[Shell to Sea] The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture report on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration can be found here

A JOINT Oireachtas committee has recommended that the State double its resource tax take for large oil and gas finds off the Irish coast, and initiate a “transparent” system of public consultation in exploiting new finds.

An all-party report, which is due to be published today by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture, says that there should be a review of offshore fiscal and licensing terms before each licensing round.

The report, which has been seen by The Irish Times, advises against “retrospective changes” to terms of existing agreements – such as those for the Corrib gas field and recent Providence Resources finds – as this could “risk long-term reputational damage”.

However, it points out that only 9.3 per cent of the geologically significant portion within the designated Continental Shelf is currently licensed for exploration or leased for production.

Any “large increase” in the number of commercially viable finds or the size of fields could therefore yield greater benefit to the State, if new tax terms are introduced by the Government, it argues.