Ireland has oil to last 109 days, says Dempsey

IRELAND has stocks of 2.1 million tonnes of oil - enough to match normal imports over a 109-day period.

As the price of oil soars to record new highs of more than $54 a barrel the Natural Resources Minister Noel Dempsey came under pressure in the Dáil to outline Ireland’s response to an energy crisis arising from geo-political events.

Mr Dempsey outlined that as of August 1 2004, Ireland held 2,171,000 tonnes of oil, which is equivalent to 109 days of net imports using the IEA methodology.