VALUABLE gas and oil resources off the Barryroe coast need to be tapped into while the country awaits the eventual switchover to fully renewable energy, according to some councillors.
Both county mayor Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) and his party colleague Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy called on the Minister Darragh O’Brien to review and assess the application for the licence to develop the Barryroe oil and gas field, which they said could produce an estimated 350m barrels of oil and 207bn cubic metres of gas which would reduce the need to import these resources.
However, there was not unanimous agreement in the chamber, with two Social Democrat councillors vocally disagreeing with that assessment of the situation.
Two years ago, then-Minister Eamon Ryan refused to grant Barryroe Offshore Energy’s (formerly Providence Resources) application to continue oil and gas drilling operations off the West Cork coast, because he was not satisfied as to the financial capability of the company.
Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy said we have a ‘ready-made energy source’ off the coast of West Cork where the amount of work needed to be done is minimum.
‘It can tap into the nearby Kinsale gas field and from an energy security point of view it would be remiss of us not to pursue it and give it a chance,’ he said.
‘We have 350m barrels of oil sitting there and the only reason nothing is happening was that the licence was taken away and it wasn’t financially viable for the company. It’s like the chicken and egg; if they don’t have the licence they can’t raise the finance.’
He said that the country will have to use fossil fuel for another 10 to 15 years at least, and it makes no sense to import it in from Russia and Ukraine.
‘Offshore wind energy is the way to go, but this is for while we are getting to that point.’
Meanwhile Cllr Joe Carroll said it was a ‘no brainer’, and said he was told that the quality of oil and gas off Barryroe coast is as good as you can get anywhere.
‘Eamonn Ryan refused the licence at the time, but it doesn’t make sense to be paying for oil and gas when we have it at our disposal,’ said Cllr Carroll.
‘We want to make it very clear that we are in support of climate aims, but until we get to that point we have to use them. Surely it’s cheaper to use our own resource rather than buying in from others.’
Cllr Deirdre Kelly, also of Fianna Fáil, seconded the motion and said it’s ‘incomprehensible’ that the country is importing these fuels when there is 207bn cubic metres of gas at the Barryroe field, which is also close to the Kinsale field.
Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire) said this energy source is ‘on our doorsteps’ and called on those to work on it to get it connected, while Fine Gael’s Cllr John Michael Foley, who lives near Barryroe, said they have a very important valuable resource which he said ‘needs to be tapped into.’
However, not all councillors were in support of the motion with Social Democrats councillors Eamonn Horgan and Isobel Towse disagreeing with the relative simplicity of the argument, saying the plan was not commercially viable, and that the focus needs to be on meeting renewable energy and targets.
However, Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) supported the call for the licence to be reviewed, and said the use of fossil fuels would continue to be necessary until the full transition to renewable fuels. ‘We are happy to use fossil fuel as long as it’s not produced here, and this could give us security for the next 30 years,’ he pointed out.
Councillors agreed to write to Minister O’Brien to review the application for the licence.
