Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted that Deputy Boyd Barrett has raised this issue. I will happily confirm to him that the Connemara field was subjected to an extended well production test by Statoil between July and September 1997. The test involved regular stopping and restarting of the flow from the well, which was named block 26/28-A1Z, to test flow rates and reservoir pressure levels. Stable flow rates were never achieved throughout the test. The decline in reservoir pressure observed from only a limited volume of production, coupled with the slow build-up in reservoir pressure following the production period, confirmed that the well was incapable of sustaining commercial production rates.

Oil recovered from the test was transferred directly to the tanker Berge Hugin instead of being flared off. The cumulative volume of oil recovered during the entire 69-day test was 16,500 barrels. The well was not commercially sustainable. Since exploration began in the Irish offshore in the 1960s, there have been a number of non-commercial discoveries, including the Connemara field. There have been no commercial discoveries so far.

In 1997, as part of the full field development of the Connemara field, Statoil drilled two appraisal wells. Neither was found to be commercially viable. On the basis of the results of the appraisal programme, the wells were plugged and abandoned and Statoil decided not to proceed. It relinquished the acreage to the State in October 1999.

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