The undeveloped Barryroe gas and oil field sits 50km off Cork’s coast
Barryroe Offshore Energy
With the recent fuel protests that brought the country to a standstill still fresh in the minds of the public, Cork County Council has called on the Government to develop the untouched Barryroe gas and oil field off Cork’s coastline.
A motion brought forward by Aontú’s Cllr Peter O’Donnoghue called for the council to write to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy to request that the development of the oil and gas field be prioritised as a matter of national energy security.
The motion received overwhelming support with 32 representatives voting in favour, while three voted against and a further five abstained. The oil field was discovered by Providence Resources back in 2012, but no commercial drilling was ever carried out.
In 2023, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan refused to sign off on licenses for Barryroe Offshore Energy, the company that had been hoping to helm development at the site.
The company entered examinership and was subsequently acquired by businessman Larry Goodman, who has reportedly been pushing for talks with the Irish Government regarding further appraisal drilling in Barryroe.
The field in Barryroe is estimated to hold up to 1.6 billion barrels of oil and 207 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Ireland consumes an estimated 150,000 barrels of oil per day, and if the estimates are accurate, Barryroe could contain enough to meet domestic demand for up to 30 years.
While the field could in theory produce up to 1.6 billion barrels, an independent 2013 audit estimated that only about 311 million could be recovered using modern technology, bringing the figure down to about 6 years. However, further developments in the field could make the remaining barrels accessible in the years ahead.
Speaking following the council meeting, Cllr O’Donoghue said: ““I am delighted that my motion was passed. It is essential that Ireland uses the energy resources it has to keep the lights on and the energy prices down for all the people of the nation.
“We all surely understand after the last number of weeks with the war in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, how important fossil fuels are and will be for a long time to come for energy security for countries throughout the world, including our own country.
“This oil and gas is sitting within 3 km of an existing gas pipeline of the depleted Old Head of Kinsale gas field. It is located in shallow water, less than 100 meters in depth. It is one of the largest undeveloped Oil and Gas fields in Europe.
“It has not been developed up to now because its development has been stalled by licensing issues, because the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment refuses to grant a license to companies looking to extract the oil and gas from Barryroe. This is madness in my opinion.”
It should be noted that the lack of development at Barryroe isn’t entirely down to licensing issues or environmental concerns. There are economic concerns about the viability of oil extraction at the site, with former rights holder Providence Resources failing to secure partnerships to extract the resources on a number of occasions.
In 2021, Ireland also introduced a ban on oil and gas extraction and exploration. This ban would need to be lifted or an exception made to allow development at Barryroe to go ahead.
When questioned recently in the Dáil about the lifting of the ban, Taoiseach Micheál Martin reiterated that Ireland’s immediate focus for domestic energy is in offshore wind and other renewables.