Shell ‘will have learned from Corrib’

The decision by Shell to sell its stake in the Corrib gas field for €1bn was not unexpected, as the oil giant continues to pull back from smaller projects globally, but it will have learned from its chequered management of the project, a leading Irish oil expert has said.

Shell said it agreed to sell for just over €1bn its 45% stake in the gas project, a move ending its exploration and production here, to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal will see Shell exit its so-called upstream operations in Ireland, with its Shell Aviation joint venture based at Dublin airport set to be its sole remaining operation. It comes as part of Shell’s efforts to offload assets following its takeover of smaller rival BG Group last year. Shell has sold off more than £16bn of assets since the BG takeover.

David Horgan, who heads Petrel Resources, one of the energy and mining firms in John Teeling’s portfolio, said the oil major was focusing on other developing huge gas prospects and Corrib, though accounting for over half of Ireland’s gas needs, was no longer a core asset amid the slump in the global price of crude oil since 2014.