Our offshore resources are hard to exploit

DRILLING for oil and gas off the Irish coast is by no means easy. Results are far less encouraging than, say, in Britain, and Scandanavia.

Success rates in 2003, according to the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, showed Britain and Norway had one-in-eight and one-in-10 success rates, respectively, between 1982 and 2001. Ireland’s rate in the same period was one-in-20.

Little wonder then that the Government is encouraging multi-national energy companies, such as Shell, to explore our sea beds.