If Shell wins in Mayo, will Kerry face similar problem?

WHILE many people are aware of the financial and environmental scandal that is taking place off the cost of Mayo, they are probably unaware that Exxon Mobil has been given extensive exploration rights off the coast of Kerry, valued at up to €20 billion.

Drilling has yet to start, but seismic exploration has already pinpointed two large oil and gas prospects 200 miles south-west of the Kerry coast in the Dunquin field.

Tony O’Reilly’s company, Providence Resources, which has a stake in the find, estimated that it could contain over 25 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas and over four billion barrels of oil — a significant find even by international standards. Last year the Government gave Providence Resources and Sosina Exploration of Scotland the rights to explore and exploit the Dunquin field. Now these two companies have given US corporate giant Exxon Mobil an 80% share in the project while they keep the remaining 20% (7.25% is owned personally by Tony O’Reilly).

It is therefore not surprising that Independent News and Media, which is owned by O’Reilly, has been so hostile to the Shell to Sea campaign.

Instead of originally giving the exploration licence to Providence and Sosina, Natural Resources Minister Noel Dempsey could have dealt directly with Exxon Mobil, thus at least keeping a 20% stake for the Irish people.

If Shell succeeds in refining the gas on land in Mayo, Exxon Mobil may well feel it has the green light to do the same in Kerry. In terms of health and safety and the environment, Exxon Mobil’s record is anything but clean. In Alaska, for example, it still has not paid the $4.5 billion in damages it owes primarily to the local fishing community for the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

Growing numbers of Irish people are following the example of the Bolivian and Venezuelan people, and the Ogoni people in Nigeria, by demanding public ownership of the gas and oil industry to ensure health and safety and environmental issues are taken seriously and that the profits of these resources are shared equally among the Irish people.

Kieran McNulty

Kerry Shell to Sea

30 Cathair Danann

North Circular Road

Tralee

Co Kerry