Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 75: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to encourage more private sector companies to invest in oil and gas exploration in view of the low success rate of previous contracts to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8118/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Ireland competes with countries in Europe and further afield to attract mobile international exploration investment. To that end, Ireland maintains a licensing regime that appropriately reflects both the risks and rewards of investing in petroleum exploration in the Irish offshore, while ensuring the State receives a fair share of profits where a commercial discovery is made. My Department also encourages exploration investment through an active and targeted promotion campaign and by guiding and supporting petroleum research projects that deepen knowledge of the petroleum potential of the Irish offshore.

As part of an ongoing strategy to increase the level of exploration activity, my Department is currently running a licensing round that is deliberately structured towards attracting new exploration companies and new exploration investment to Ireland. The Atlantic Margin Licensing Round, which closes at the end of May, also aims to encourage companies to look at areas of the Irish offshore where little data currently exists and as a consequence, little is known of the potential prospectivity of these areas. The licensing round aims to bring a new momentum to the level of exploration activity off the coast of Ireland and includes all of Ireland's major Atlantic basins.