Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the number of oil, gas or other mineral explorations in hand; if they are off or onshore; the extent to which his Department has evaluated the expected commercial value of the various operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33524/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently thirteen offshore Petroleum Exploration Licences, two onshore Petroleum Exploration Licences and one offshore Reserved Area Licence. There are also twelve Licensing Options, all in offshore areas, which give the holder first right to an Exploration Licence over all or part of the area covered by the Option.

I require the holders of these authorisations to undertake extensive work programmes. In many cases, these work programmes include the drilling of an exploration well, which currently can cost between 20 and 40 million euro. There is no commercial value in any of these authorisations unless they lead to a commercial discovery.

With regard to non-petroleum minerals, exploration and development is undertaken by private enterprise and regulated under the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1999. Extraction of minerals under the Acts is subject to payment of royalties to the State. New exploration is continuously undertaken as part of my requirements to holders of Prospecting Licences, of which there are currently 284. Details of these Licenses can be found in the six monthly reports to the Oireachtas which I am obliged to lay before the House under the Acts. The last such report was in respect of the six-month period ended 30 June 2006 which was recently laid before this House.

No new economic deposits of non-petroleum minerals have been discovered in recent years. There have been some encouraging results however. Exploration adjacent to existing base metal mines at Navan, Co. Meath (Tara Mines Ltd.) and Galmoy, Co. Kilkenny (Arcon Mines Ltd.) has discovered additional resources, which have the potential to extend the life of those mines.