What lies beneath the seabed? That’s the €750bn question

LAST week, while filling in for Vincent Browne on TV 3, I stumbled across a current controversy.

I was not aware of what the 2011 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round was all about. Hosting a debate on our oil and gas regulatory regime meant that I had to research the topic. This meant reading copious data from Dáil debates, SIPTU policy document, Department of Energy analysis, recent articles and Indecon consultants’ expert report in 2007. Polarised opinions indicated this was a conflict between protecting natural assets for public gain versus the might of global oil conglomerates’ greedy appetite for profits.

The petroleum division of the department in 2006, speculated that Irish territorial waters could contain oil reserves to the equivalent of 10 million barrels. At the time the prevailing crude oil price was $75 a barrel. Hence, a potential €750 billion of wealth appears available. This forecast has proved to be a horrendous hostage to fortune for Minister Pat Rabbitte. Opposition parties, trade unions, columnists and energy analysts accuse him of selling out on our vital interests. One Labour councillor even accused him of “economic treason”. He maintains he is merely pursuing a pragmatic continuation of the previous administration’s quest for investment.