Geoff Percival: Irish Oil has five years to prove itself

While 2016 proved to be another year of big hype, but little activity, in Irish offshore exploration, hope of the sector eventually taking off and providing measureable long-term tax revenue for the State is still alive and well.

However, that is now not only dependent on the industry’s big players remaining interested in what lies beneath Irish waters but also wider - not-insignificant - things like Opec’s oil production deal surviving; oil prices remaining at a steady level of $55-$60 per barrel, the global economy holding up and Brexit concerns (among them the tightening of workers’ freedom of movement) not driving up drilling and production costs or threatening our security of energy supply.

“I think we need to think in terms of five years [to judge the viability of Ireland’s exploration sector] rather than just next year; 2017 will be an important year – with companies working data, trying to attract farm-in partners and undertaking seismic studies - but not a make-or-break one,” said Pat Shannon, chairman of the Irish Offshore Operators’ Association (IOOA).