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September 2012

This is our oil, so let's demand a fair share

By: 
Irish Daily Mail Editorial - 10th September 2012

It has long been acknowleged that the exploration deal former minister Ray Burke struck with the oil companies in 1992 was exraordinarily - even obscenely - generous.

There was always, however, what appeared to be a fairly compelling argumentin favour of such generosity: the slim chance of anyone ever making a commercial discovery off the Irish coast. Only by offering such generous terms, we have repeatedly been told by every energy minister since Mr Burke, including most recently Pat Rabbitte, could we ever intice the roustabouts into Irish waters.

Posted Date: 
13 September 2012

Fine Gael ‘Think-in’ squashed by potato masher

By: 
Y - RSC - Indymedia

On Monday (10th Sept) Members of Rossport Solidarity Camp and Shell to Sea, occupied the steps of Knockranny hotel, to show their outrage with Fine Gael TD’s for turning a blind eye to the plight of a small rural community at the hands of Shell’s tyrants.

Monday saw a group of protesters- equipped with banners- braving the early morning drizzle at the gates of Knockranny Hotel Westport, where Fine Gael planned to have a party ‘Think-in’ later on that day.

Posted Date: 
13 September 2012
Link: 

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/102424

Council ‘extremely dissatisfied’ with Shell’s noise breaches

By: 
Anton McNulty - Mayo News

Mayo County Council is ‘extremely dissatisfied’ that noise from the Corrib gas project exceeded the permitted levels this summer, and it says it has taken ‘more robust’ measures to prevent it from happening again.

Posted Date: 
12 September 2012
Link: 

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1609...

1,600 billion - Massive scale of oil giveaway revealed in Shell to Sea report

By: 
WSM

€1,600 billion. That is the figure for Irish Oil & Gas reserves already licensed revealed this morning in a detailed report from Shell to Sea using the energy corporations own reports and estimates. People in Ireland will see almost no benefits from this incredible wealth because the Irish state gives these reserves to the corporations at the cheapest terms in the world.

Posted Date: 
11 September 2012
Link: 

http://www.anarkismo.net/article/23848

Reserving expectations

By: 
Ann O’Loughlin - Irish Examiner

HOUSEHOLDERS face forking out top prices for oil and gas in the future while at the same time key supplies off our coasts are exported directly from the rigs to other countries.

The taxpayer also stands to lose out in a multimillion-euro oil and gas spin-off bonanza as more gas and oil fields off our shores strike gold.

Posted Date: 
11 September 2012
Link: 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/reserving-expectations-207108.html

News release: Devastating report exposes State's mismanagement of oil & gas resources

News release - Issued by Dublin Shell to Sea - Monday 10th September 2012

-- Research reveals company estimates of 21 billion barrels in licensed areas -- 

Oil and gas under the areas of Ireland’s seabed already licensed to private companies is worth more than €1,600 billion (€1.6 trillion), according to the companies’ own estimates. The figure is contained in a groundbreaking new report that reveals a more complete picture of the extent of exploration in Irish territory and exposes the State’s failure to effectively manage Ireland’s natural resources. 


The research is presented in the form of a map and tables in a major new guide to the issues, ‘Liquid Assets’, published by the Dublin Shell to Sea campaign and launched today (Monday 10 September) by Paul Murphy MEP. 


By trawling through figures published by oil exploration companies, researchers compiled companies' estimates for a total of 69 different discoveries, “prospects” and other areas licensed for oil and gas exploration. The combined total of those company estimates is 20,964 million barrels of oil equivalent (of oil or gas), worth €1,600 billion at today’s prices. 


Paul Murphy MEP said: “This devastating report exposes the State’s utter failure to manage Ireland’s natural resources on behalf of people in Ireland. Not only ownership, but also control of Ireland’s oil and gas is being handed over to private corporations.” 

Irish Supplier Accuses Shell of Bribery, Cover-up and Sinister Threats

By: 
John Donovan - RoyalDutchShellPLC.com

Printed below is a leaked email to a Shell EP Ireland manager, Mr Brian Foley, sent by a thoroughly disenchanted local supplier to the Corrib Gas Project in Ireland, an enterprise dogged by controversy.

This includes several months imprisonment of local landowners, the Rossport Five and a hunger-strike by another jailed campaigner, the retired school principal, Maura Harrington, the current spokesperson for the Shell to Sea campaign.

Two sources have confirmed the authenticity of the email, which makes serious allegations that seem to have drawn several Shell officials, mangers and executives into the story, including the Chief Executive Officer of Shell EP Ireland, Mr Michael Crothers.

Posted Date: 
10 September 2012
Link: 

http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2012/09/10/irish-supplier-accuses-shell-of...

Shell to Sea Protest for FG ‘Think-In’

By: 
98FM

The Jobs and Enterprise Minister says the government has to look ahead to a successor to the Croke Park Agreement. Richard Bruton made the comments as the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party gathers in Co. Mayo for its think-in ahead of the new Dáil term.

Posted Date: 
10 September 2012
Link: 

http://www.98fm.com/2012/category-news-sport/shell-to-sea-protest-for-fg...

Liquid Assets Report

By: 
Dublin Shell to Sea

All you need to know about Ireland's oil and gas resources

'Liquid Assets' is a definitive guide to Ireland's oil and gas resources and how the State manages them, published by Dublin Shell to Sea.  One element of this 44-page information booklet is a groundbreaking map, showing for the first time all the known prospects and discoveries in Irish territory, together with tables listing the relevant exploration companies' own estimates for how much oil and gas these licensed areas contain. 

The map and tables – the product of months of painstaking research – are backed by an extensive online spreadsheet, which contains detailed sources and further information and which will be up-dated as companies release new figures.

You can download the following documents here:

  • Sources Spreadsheet: contains extensive background information about the 69 areas shown on the map and lists sources.
  • Liquid Assets: PDF of 44-page report/booklet
  • Map of oil and gas exploration in Irish territory
  • Tables summarising key information about licensed areas, including company estimates.

These reveal the true extent of exploration in our waters. The total of the estimates issued by exploration companies for their licensed areas in Irish territory is 20,964 million (i.e. almost 21 billion) barrels of oil equivalent and belies the oil industry's repeated claims that Ireland's offshore is an "unproven territory" with scant exploration taking place. 

Posted Date: 
9 September 2012