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Ireland ready for offshore oil, gas auction

DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 12 (UPI) — Irish Natural Resources Minister Fergus O’Dowd said his government aims to attract international investors to an offshore oil and gas auction next year. “It is important then that the state provides suitable opportunities for international investors and provides the right environment to encourage industry to take the risk associated with investing in exploration,” he said at a conference Monday in Dublin. O’Dowd said at the conference the government would open parts of its territorial waters up for auction starting in April. The auction will run through September 2015 and include an offer for a two-year license for exploration. No commercial discoveries have been made offshore Ireland since 1996. An energy exploration team led by Exxon Mobil announced in April it started drilling in the Porcupine Basin, a first for deepwater work off the Irish coast. O’Dowd said there “no guarantees” for offshore success, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Irish energy chief Pat Rabbitte attends launch of Tipperary wind farm

DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 25 (UPI) — A 40-megawatt wind farm now under construction in central Ireland will help the country move closer to its renewable energy targets, a government minister said. “Ireland has a challenging European Union renewable energy target to meet by 2020, which includes meeting 40 percent of electricity demand from renewable sources,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Pat Rabbitte said Thursday at the launch of the wind farm in central Brukhana country in Tipperary. “We are making progress towards this target, however, and development of renewable generation of the scale we will see at Bruckhana is crucial for maintaining the rate of build necessary to achieve our EU target.” State utility company Bord na Mona is in charge of construction of the wind farm. No date for completion was given. The Irish government said it’s committed to meeting 40 percent of electricity demand through renewable resources […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple